REPRESENTATIVE 


ENGLISH    PROSE 


AND 


PROSE   WRITERS 


EY 


THEODORE  W.  HUNT,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  English  Language  in  the  College  oj  New  Jersey 
Author  of  "The  Principles  of  Written  Discouuse,"  etc. 


NEWYORK 

A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND   SON 
714  Broadway 

1887. 


Copyright,   1887, 
By  A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son. 


• 


PREFACE 


The  present  volume  is  offered  as  a  contribution  to  the 
study  of  English  Prose  in  its  representative  Historical 
Periods,  in  its  representative  Literary  Forms  and  in  some 
of  its  Representative  Authors.  That  portion  of  our  prose 
is  especially  discussed  that  dates  its  beginning  from  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth  in  the  writings  of  Bacon  and  Hooker 
and  extends  to  the  present  decade  in  the  pages  of  Carlyle. 
This  is  English  Prose  Proper.  As  we  advance,  careful 
attention  will  be  given  to  the  discussion  of  English  Prose 
Style  as  visibly  expressed  in  a  few  of  our  prominent  prose 
writers.  The  work  will  be  literary,  throughout,  in  its 
method,  subject  matter,  and  purpose,  as  distinct  from 
that  order  of  treatment  that  might  be  termed  technical 
or  speculative.  A  detailed  account  of  the  life  and  times 
of  the  separate  .authors  examined  will  thus  be  aside  from 
our  main  design,  such  allusions  being  made  only  in  so 
far  as  they  serve  to  cast  light  on  the  particular  author's 
work  as  an  author. 

We  have  aimed  to  make  the  discussion  both  philosophic 
and  practical,  in  a  department  of  our  literature  as  yet  but 
approximately  covered. 

We  trast  that  the  treatise  is  so  presented  in  thought 

and  external  form,  that,  while  serving  a  special  educational 

purpose  in  our  college   class-rooms,  it  may  also  prove 

stimulating  arid  helpful   to  every  ingenuous  student  of 

Ei i 'dish  Letters.  T.  W.  H. 

College  ot  New  Jeesey. 

Princeton,  N  J.,  Feb.  1887. 

494308 

swum 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

English  Prose  from  Bede  to  the  Chronicle    .    .    .     .     15 

CHAPTER  II. 
English  Prose  from  the  Chronicle  to  Bacon  ....     25 


PART   I. 

REPRESENTATIVE  HISTORICAL  PERIODS. 

Classification  op  Periods 43 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD. 

A. — Causes  or  Agencies 49 

Friendly  Agencies .  49 

1.  Antecedent  Work 49 

2.  Awakening  of  English  Literary  History      .     .  50 

3.  Attitude  of  Royalty 51 

4.  English  Versions  of  Scripture 52 

Adverse  Aqeacies 54 

1.  Grammatical  Structure 54 

2.  Rise  of  Euphuism 55 

3.  Revival  of  Classical  Languages 56 


IT  TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

B. — Characteristics  .     .     .     . 59 

1.  Increasing  Grammatical  Regularity 59 

2.  Increasing  Vocabulary 60 

3.  English  Spirit 60 

4.  Versatility 61 

5.  Human  or  Catholic  Spirit 62 

6.  Protestant  and  Ethical  Spirit 63 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  TRANSITION  PERIOD. 

Transitions 67 

Appropriateness  of  the  term  to  this  Epoch  ....  69 

A. — Characteristics 71 

1.  Franco-English 71 

2.  Inferiority  of  Diction 73 

B. — Helpful  Agencies 75 

1.  Popular  Agitation 75 

2.  Personal  Character  and  Work 77 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PERIOD  OF  SETTLEMENT. 

The  term  Augustan 80 

Appropriateness  of  the  word,  Settled 87 

A  Period  of  Prose 88 

A. — Characteristics 90 

1.  Periodical 90 

2.  Popular 92 

B. — Adverse  Agencies 94 

Rise  of  French  Criticism 94 

C. — Friendly  Agencies 95 

Philological  Study  of  English 95 

CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  PERIOD  OF  EXPANSION  AND  EXPRESSION. 

The  Modern  Period  Proper 99 

Prevalence  of  Prose  in  this  Age 100 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  V 

The  words,  Expansive  and  Expressive 101 

A. — Special  Characteristics 103 

1.  English 103 

2.  Literary 104 

3.  Natural 105 

B. — Helpful  Agencies 107 

1.  Influence  of  Germany 107 

2.  Political  Agitation 110 

3.  Eevival  of  First-English 115 

General  Inferences 116 

1.  Comparative  Limits  of  Periods 116 

2.  Comparative  Amounts  of  Prose  and  Poetry   .     .     .  116 

3.  Unity  of  Periods 117 

4.  Progressive  Development 118 

5.  The  Period  and  the  Writer 119 


PART  II. 

BEPEESENTATIVE  LITEBAEY  FOEMS. 

Literary  Forms 125 

The  word,  Forms 125 

Methods  of  Classification 126 

CHAPTER  I. 
HISTOEICAL  OE  NAEBATITE  PEOSE. 

Contents 128 

Biography 125) 

Bemarks    .     .     • 130 

History  Proper 133 

Its  Moaning        133 

A. — Characteristics  of  Historic  Prose 134 

1.  Accuracy  of  Statement 134 

2.  Clearness  of  Statement 134 

3.  Unity  and  Order 135 


vi  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

4.  Delineation 136 

5.  Simplicity 137 

6.  Gravity 137 

B.— Methods 138 

1.  The  Chronological 138 

2.  The  Logical 138 

Suggestions 139 

CHAPTER  II. 

DESCEIPTIVE  OE  POETIC  PEOSE. 

The  word,  Descriptive 143 

Benefit  op  Descriptive  Prose  to  Style 144 

The  Mental  Element  in  this  Porm 145 

Province  of  DESCRiPTrNE  Prose 146 

Poetical  Prose 146 

Prose  Fiction 148 

The  Phrase  Prose  Fiction 148 

Classes  of  Prose  Fiction 151 

1.  The  Historical  Novel 151 

2.  The  Descriptive  Novel 152 

3.  The  Ethical  Novel 153 

4.  The  Eomantic  Novel 155 

Bank  and  Value  of  Prose  Fiction 158 

General  Characteristics  of  Descriptive  Prose  .     .     .159 

1.  The  Imaginative  Element 159 

2.  Pictorial  Diction 160 

3.  Comprehensiveness  and  Minuteness 160 

CHAPTER  III. 

OEATOEICAL  OE    IMPASSIONED  PEOSE. 

The  words,  Oratorical  and  Oral 162 

A. — Characteristics     .     .     , 162 

1.  Emotional 162 

2.  Objective .     .  163 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  Vii 

3.  Free. 165 

4.  Interesting  and  Stimulating 105 

Notes 168 

B. — Divisions 167 

1.  Forensic  Prose 167 

2.  Judicial 168 

3.  Sacred 169 

CHAPTER  IV, 
PHILOSOPHICAL   OE  DIDACTIC  PROSE. 

A. — Characteristics 174 

1.  Unirnpassioned 174 

2.  Thorough 174 

3.  Sedate  and  Dignified 176 

4.  Adaptive ;  .     .     .  177 

5.  Prose  Distinctively 177 

B. — Contents 178 

Notes 181 

CHAPTER  V. 

MISCELLANEOUS  PROSE. 

A. — General  Characteristics 183 

1.  Variety  of  Topic 184 

2.  Brevity 185 

3.  Unity  of  Benefit 186 

4.  Increasing  Literary  and  Moral  Character  ....  188 

5.  English  in  Origin 190 

6.  Human  and  Natural  ' 191 

B. — Divisions 192 

1.  Essays 192 

2.  Letters 194 

3.  Travels  an :1  Tales 195 

4.  Journalism 197 

Inferences 198 


viii  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

1.  The  Relation  of  Prose  Forms  to  Prose  Period  \  .     .  198 

2.  Relative  Value  of  Forms 200 

3.  Form  and  Idea .     .  201 


FART  III. 

REPRESENTATIVE  PROSE  WRITERS 
AND   THEIR   STYLES. 

A. — Classification  of  Prose  Authors 205 

B. — Explanatory  Statements 207 

Plan  of  Discussion 209 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  FRANCIS  BACON. 

Biographical  Sketch 211 

His  Use  of  Latin 211 

Hts  Prose  Works  in  English 211 

Leading  Qualities  of  his  Style 217 

Excellences 217 

1.  Condensation  and  Compactness 217 

2.  Analytical  Clearness  and  Suggestion  ....  219 

3.  Incisiveness 220 

4.  Strength  and  Force 222 

5.  Imagination  and  Illustration 221 

6.  Versatility  and  Variety .     .  223 

Main  Faults  or  Defects 227 

1.  Want  of  a  pure  English  Diction 227 

2.  Want  of  Development  of  Idea 229 

3.  Want  of  Literary  Finish 230 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  PROSE   STYLE   OF  RICHARD  HOOKER. 

Biographical  Sketch 231 

]] ;h  Those  Authorship 233 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  is 

The  Timeliness  of  his  Prose  Production 232 

Characteristics  op  his  Style 234 

Merits 234 

1.  Philosophic  Weight  and  Vigor 2,51 

2.  Logical  Sacpience 2  J7 

Leading  Faults 2  39 

Diction  and  Structure 239 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE   PROSE   STYLE   OF  JOHN   MILTON. 

Bio  graphic  Aii  Sketch 246 

Milton  as  a  Prose  Writer 246 

His  Prose  Works  in  English 249 

Chief  Defects  op  his  style 2.">i 

1.  Auglo-Latin  Diction  and  Construction      .     .     .     .  2">I 

2.  Faulty  Imagery 253 

3.  Personal  Allusion 2il 

Literary  Merits 2^3 

1.  Ingenuousness '.  256 

2.  Directness  of  Purpose 257 

3.  Impassioned  Energy 259 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PROSE  STYLE   OF  JONATHAN   SWIFT. 

Biographical  Sketch 265 

His  Prose  Writings 265 

Characteristics  op  his  Style 2.1  > 

Faults 239 

1.  Absence  of  Literary  Elegance 270 

2.  Inferior  Order  of  Imagination 271 

Merits  of  Style 272 

1.  Force  and  Spirit 272 

2.  Satirical  Power 274 

3-  Individuality  and  Independence 276 

4.  Goo-1  Use  of  English 273 

5.  Freedom  from  Pedantry 285 


X  TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  JOSEPH  ADDISON. 

Biographical  Sketch 28S 

His  Prose  Works 283 

His  Preference  for  Prose 290 

His  Prose  Style 291 

Special  Features  of  his  Style 291 

1.  Literary  Gentleness  and  Grace 291 

2.  Plainness  and  Precision 291 

.      3.  Wit  and  Humor 293 

4.  Versatility 392 

,      5.  Ethical  Character ;     ....  304 

Addison's  Critical  Ability 305 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  SAMUEL  JOHNSON. 

Biographical  Sketch 310 

His  Prose  Writings 310 

Examination  op  his  Style 311 

Defects 311 

1.  Anglo-Latin  Element 311 

2.  Want  of  Flexibility 317 

3.  Absence  of  Impassioned  Energy oli 

Merits  of  his  Style 32:i 

1.  Substantial  Clearness 32> 

2.  Literary  Gravity      .     .     .     , 325 

3.  Johnsonianism 3'28 

His  Work  as  Lexicographer  and  Critic 331 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  EDMUND  BURKE. 

Biographical  Sketch 334 

Yu/v  as  to  his  Rank 334 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  xi 

His  Pbose  Whitings 336 

His  Pkose  Style,  Conditions 339 

Characteristics  op  his  Style 342 

1.  Forensic  and  Impassioned 342 

2.  Dignified  and  Manly 348 

3.  Practical  and  Timely 352 

4.  Satirical  and  Figurative 355 

5.  Lack  of  Literary  Finish 358 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  CHARLES  LAMB. 

Biographical  Sketch 363 

His  Prose  Writings 363 

Defects  op  his  Style 364 

1.  Diction  and  Structure 364 

2.  Absence  of  Logical  Development 365 

3.  Want  of  Permanent  Literary  Effect 368 

Merits  op  Style 369 

1.  English  Character  and  Spirit 369 

2.  Humorous  Element 371 

3.  Naturalness  and  Flexibility 375 

4.  •  Sympathetic  Tenderness 378 

5.  Critical  Element 380 

Defects  op  his  Style  as  Critical 384 

1.  Want  of  Impartiality 384 

2.  Want  of  Comprehensiveness 384 

CHAPTEPt  IX. 

THE  PBOSE   STYLE    OF   THOMAS 
BABINGTON  MACAULAY. 

Biographical  Sketch 387 

His  Prose  Works 387 

Populak  Estiiiate  of  His  Prose  Style     .....  388 


Xll 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


Analysis  op  his  Style 

1.  Skill  in  Narrative  and  Descriptive  Writing 

2.  Excellence  of  Sentence  Structure    .     . 

3.  Literary  Personality 

Chief  Defects 

1.  Want  of  Intellectual  Depth  and  Vigor 

2.  Want  of  Ethical  Earnestness  and  Aim 
Pkesent  and  Prospective  Bank  of  his  Style 


390 

390 

398 

405 

408 
408 

413 

414 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  THOMAS  DE  QUINCEY. 

Biographical  Sketch 417 

Miscellaneous  Character  of  his  Works 417 

Merits  of  Style 419 

1.  Variety  and  Flexibility 419 

2.  The  English  Element 420 

3.  Intellectual  Character ,     .     .     .  423 

4.  Impassioned  Vigor 429 

5.  Humor  and  Satire 433 

6.  Pictorial  and  Artistic  Power 435 

Alleged  Defects , 437 

1.  The  Want  of  Full  Discussion  of  Ideas      ....  437 

2.  Errors  of  Diction,  Sentence,  and  Moral  Force  .     .  440 

CHAPTER  XI. 
THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  CHARLES   DICXENS. 


Biogeaphical  Sketch 444 

Prose  Fiction  as  a  Form 444 

His  Prose  Works 446 

Prominent  Features  of  his  Prose  Style 449 

Merits 449 

1.  Delineative  and  Dramatic  Power 449 

2.  Pathos 454 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS.  xiii 

3.  Humor  and  Satire 457 

4.  Practicality 401 

5.  Ease  and  Naturalness 465 

Defects  of  Style 467 

1.  Want  of  Philosophical  Power 469 

2.  Want,  jf  Artistic  Finish 472 

Probable  Peruanence  oe  his  Prose 473 

CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  THOMAS   CARLYLE. 

Biographical  Sketch 479 

His  Pross  Writings 479 

CHARAcrsiu.-irLC  Merits 48!) 

1.  Original • 480 

2.  Cogent 483 

3.  Versatile  and  Suggestive 486 

4.  Delineative 489 

5.  Oa  and  Acute 493 

Characteristic  Deeects 495 

1.  Unfinished 495 

2.  Irregular 497 

3.  Mystical 502 

His  Chae  .voter  as  a  Critic 505 

Conclusion 514 


INTRODUCTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ENGLISH  PROSE  FROM  BEDE  TO 
THE  CHRONICLE. 

The  exact  historical  period  covered  by  this  division  of 
our  earlier  prose  as  distinct  from  poetry  may  be  said 
to  extend  from  673  a.d. — the  year  of  the  birth  of  Bede 
— to  1154  a.  d'. — the  year  of  the  close  of  The  Chronicle. 
Within  these  limits,  the  four  prominent  centres  of 
prose  writing  were  Yarrow,  York,  Winchester  and 
Abingdon.  The  four  prominent  prose  writers  were 
Bede,  Alfred  and  the  Aelfrics,  representing,  respec- 
tively, the  geographical  centres  mentioned.  The 
earliest  specimens  of  First- English  Prose  were,  un- 
doubtedly, the  collections  of  the  Laws  in  the  seventh. 
Gentury,  by  Ethelbert,  Hlothere'  and  Eadric,  Kings 
of  Kent;  by  Ine,  King  of  Wessex,  in  the  same 
century;  by  later  writers,  also,  such  as  Ecgbert  of 
York,  and  so  on  to  Alfred  the  Great  who  in  his  care- 
fully compiled  codes  laid  the  basis  of  a  wise  Christian 
legislation  at  the  very  opening  of  our  literature. 
Connecting  his  code  with  that  of  Moses  and  with  the 
broader  one  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  he  adds — 
"  Those  which  I  met  either  of  Trie's  day  my  kinsman, 
or  Aethelbert's  who  first  received  baptism  among 
the  English  race,  that  seemed  to  me  rightest,  1  have 
here  gathered  and  rejected  the  others.''     Then  follows, 


1G  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

The    Chronicle,    compiled,    partly,    by    Alfred,    and 
partly,   by  Plegimund  and  other  less  known  annal- 
ists.    This  collection,   unimportant  as  it  is  in  itself 
or  in  its  literary  character,  is  invaluable  in  its  histori- 
cal and  civil  bearings.     Beginning   long  before  the 
Conquest,  it  runs  nearly  a  century  beyond  it  and  thus 
serves  to   cherish    the    First-English  spirit  and   lan- 
guage.     As    the    earliest   history    of  any    Teutonic 
people  in  a  Teutonic  language,  and  with  the  Laws 
the  earliest  form  of  English  Prose,  it  has  an  interest 
and  value  quite  aside  from  its  contents.     Alfred  did 
for  it  what    Chaucer    did    for    English    Poetry.     He 
made  it  national,  so  that  from  his  time  to  the  death 
of  Stephen  it  was  the  people's  authority.    Above  all,  it 
was  English  clear  and  clean  and  lies  back  of  all  later 
English  as  a  basis  and  guide.     As  far,  therefore,  as 
mere  time  is  concerned,  there  are  nearly  five  centu- 
ries included  in  this  earliest  prose  era,  a  period  fully 
as  long  as  that  from  The  Chronicle  to  Bacon's  Essays, 
and  longer  by  far  than  that  from  Bacon  to  Carlyle. 
In  noting  more  specifically  the  English  Prose  of  this 
period,  there  is,  first,  the  unfinished  translation    of 
St.  John's  Gospel  by  Bede.     There  is,  also,  Alfred's 
translation    of  Orosius,  a  kind  of  manual  of  general 
history.     Alfred's  translation  of  Boethius'  De  Consol- 
atione    Philosophiae    is    especially    memorable.       Tn 
this,  the  classical  and  the  English  spirit,  the  specula- 
tive and    the    practical,  are  happily  combined,   while 
Christian  sentiments  are  always  enforced  as  superior 
to   those  of  a  pagan  philosophy.      It  is  by    way    of 
eminence  that  one  of  Alfred's  productions  in  which 
his  great  and  generous  English  heart  reveals  itself 
most  fully.     We  know  of  no  work  of  Pre-Reformation 
times  in  which  there  is  found  a  purer  ethical  teach- 


BEDE    TO    THE    CHRONICLE.  17 

ing,  a  more  conciliatory  spirit  or  a  cleaner  prose 
style.  Then  follows  his  translation  of  Bede's  Eccle- 
siastical History  of  England,  a  work  which  Alfred 
selected,  partly,  to  give  to  the  people  the  benefit  of 
its  contents  and,  partly,  because  of  its  intensely 
English  character  behind  and  below  its  foreign  dress. 
He,  also,  translated  Gregory's  Pastoral  Care — a  kind 
of  Homiletical  hand-book  for  Churchmen.  Most  of 
it  reads  as  an  affectionate  pastoral  letter.  It  is  full 
of  interest  from  the  fact  that  Gregory,  its  author,  was 
the  one  who  sent  the  first  missionaries  from  Rome 
to  Kent;  also,  because  Augustine,  who  headed  this 
movement,  brought  the  original  work  with  him  to 
England,  and  because  in  it  he  speaks  sorrowfully  of 
that  olden  time  when  piety  and  English  learning 
flourished  together,  and  yet  hopefully,  in  that  better 
days  seemed  to  be  dawning.  Such  was  the  noble 
work  of  Alfred  as  our  first  great  prose  writer.  If  it 
be  said  that  his  work  was  mainly  that  of  the  compiler, 
translator  and  paraphrast  rather  than  that  of  a  crea- 
tive author,  it  is  to  be  answered,  that  the  original 
additions  that  he  made,  especially,  to  Orosius  and 
Boethius,  were  so  numerous  and  valuable  that  he 
may  be  said  to  have  combined  the  work  of  an  inde- 
pendent author  with  that  of  a  commentator.  As  to 
his  style,  it  has  all  the  best  qualities  that  mark  the 
First-English  character, — plainness,  directness,  spirit, 
ethical  gravity  and  manliness.  In  these  particulars 
he  may  be  compared  with  English  writers  of  any  sub- 
sequent epoch.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  no 
modern  translator  of  Latin  into  English  has  had  any- 
thing like  the.  difficulties  of  structure  and  style  before 
him  that  Alfred  had  when  he  aimed  to  render  a 
compact  classical  tongue  into  the  more  flexible  En- 


18  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

glish  of  his  time.  From  the  pen  of  Aelfricthe  Gram- 
marian we  have,  The  Homilies,  The  Colloquy,  Lives 
of  Saints,  a  partial  translation  of  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures, with  a  number  of  manuals  and  less  important 
works.  Equally  clear  in  his  prose  with  Alfred  and 
even  more  poetic  and  finished,  he  had  to  a  less 
degree  that  masculine  vigor  that  marked  the  king. 
Most  of  his  prose  is  so  alliterative  as  to  mar  its  char- 
acter and,  yet,  what  he  lacks  in  solidity  he  supplies 
in  a  more  modern,  lucid  and  facile  expression.  A 
later  and  less  renowned  Aelfric — Aelfric  Bata — en- 
larged The  Colloquy  of  his  superior. 

As  far,  therefore,  as  the  prose  authors  themselves 
are  concerned,  they  are  seen  to  be  but  few  in  number, 
not  exceeding  a  half  dozen  at  the  most.  It  might 
lead  to  serious  error,  however,  should  it  be  supposed 
that  the  smallness  of  the  number  marked  the  real 
character  and  results  of  the  work  accomplished  in 
this  province.  Nor  must  the  principle  be  too  strongly 
pressed  that  in  this  first  era,  if  matters  be  reduced  to 
their  last  analysis,  we  have  but  little  of  native, 
genuine  English.  (l  It  is  perfectly  true  that  Bede 
wrote  nearly  all  that  he  wrote  in  Latin ;  that  Alcuin 
the  pupil  of  Bede  and  the  teacher  of  Charlemagne, 
re-edited  the  old  classic  authors,  and  in  his  Com- 
mentaries, Capitularies  and  ethical  treatises,  used  the 
language  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  is  also  true  that 
each  of  the  Aelfrics  was  in  a  sense  an  Anglo-Latin 
author  and  that  Alfred  was  the  only  writer  of  First- 
English  Prose  who  can  with  full  truthfulness  be  said 
to  have  given  us  an  example  of  prose  in  "  English 
Undefiled."  This  is  all  correct,  and  yet  we  are  to  bear 
in  mind  that  beneath  the  letter  is  the  spirit  and  be- 
hind the  text  is  the  man;  so  that  of  such  an  author  as 


BEDE     TO    THE    CHRONICLE.  19 

JBede,  Morley  ma}7  justly  say — "He  leads  the  line  of 
English  Prose  Writers," — and  Mr.  Brooke  may  state 
of  Aelfric  the  Grammarian,  "  that  he  wrote  a  sim- 
ple, literary  English."  The  indebtedness  of  Modern- 
English  Prose  to  the  English  Prose  of  this  first  era, 
in  so  far  as  actual  subject-matter  is  concerned,  is  not 
large,  nor  could  it  naturally  be  expected  to  be.  It  is, 
nevertheless,  a  real  indebtedness,  and  to  overlook  it 
as  some  ultra  modern  writers  have  done,  is  as  untrue 
to  literary  history  as  it  is  to  the  genius  of  the  English 
people.  Such  an  epoch  is  not  to  be  measured  simply 
by  what  it  has  left  in  the  form  of  visible  prose  pro- 
duct, but  also  by  what  it  made  possible  for  succeeding 
ages  to  accomplish  and  to  accomplish  more  easily. 
The  study  of  our  first  prose  is,  indeed,  now  a  matter 
of  etymological  rather  than  of  purely  literary  benefit. 
Still,  in  and  through  such  philological  work  the 
modern  English  student  is  continually  noting  traces 
and  glimpses  of  literary  value,  and  is  all  the  better 
prepared  by  such  study  for  the  full  appreciation  of 
those  later  prose  eras  which  have  thus  been  heralded 
and  hastened.  Among  the  four  or  five  prose  authors 
already  mentioned  as  illustrating  in  their  writings 
more  or  less  of  the  English  element,  King  Alfred,  as 
has  been  stated,  is  the  only  one  whose  prose  is  out- 
and-out  English.  He  is  thus,  not  only  the  founder  of 
English  Prose  historically  viewed,  but  the  one  Eirst- 
English  Prose  Writer  with  whom  above  all  others 
the  modern  English  student  should  be  thoroughly 
conversant. 

Intensely  English  in  spirit  and  mission,  all  that  he 
said  and  wrote  was  in  his  birth-tongue,  and  he  lived 
mainly  to  found  and  foster  a  home  literature.  Zeal- 
ous as  he  was  in  the    line    of  literary    service    and 


20  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

political  reform,  his  chief  love  was  in  the  sphere  of 
the  home  speech.  "There  are  only  a  few,"  he  says, 
"on  this  side  of  the  Humber  who  can  understand  the 
divine  service  or  even  translate  a  Latin  letter  into 
English;  and  I  believe  not  many  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Humber.  There  are  so  few,  indeed,  that  I 
cannot  remember  one  south  of  the  Thames  when  I 
began  to  reign."  This  was  his  constant  lament,  and 
it  was  the  ruling  passion  of  his  life  to  redeem  the 
land  from  such  disgrace.  To  this  end,  he  encouraged 
English  scholars_.  founded  English  schools,  wrote  edu- 
cational treatises,  traveled  from  place  to  place,  and 
organized  the  literary  work  of  the  country.  It  is  to 
be  emphasized,  here,  that  what  he  wrote,  he  wrote 
i:i  the  form  of  prose  as  best  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
the  hour,  and  his  prose  was  always  mature,  thought- 
ful and  substantial.  As  Milton  after  him,  he  had  no 
liUing  for  frivolities.  He  wrote  as  he  lived — for  the 
weal  of  the  people.  It  may  safely  be  questioned 
whether  from  the  ninth  century  to  the  present  time 
there  has  been  any  prose  writer  of  English  who  has 
better  understood  his  age  than  Alfred  did  his,  or  one 
who  has  done  more  for  his  age  in  the  line  of  literary 
advance  than  did  Alfred  for  his.  Hence  in  any 
historical  and  literary  study  of  Modern-English  Prose 
we  are  compelled  to  go  back  to  the  writings  and 
spirit  of  Alfred  as  a  necessary  introduction.  The 
meaning  of  his  name — one  skilled  in  council — will 
express  the  character  of  his  mission 

If  wo  inquire  as  to  the  Characteristics  of  First- 
English  Prose,  they  may  be  stated  as — Brevity,  Sin- 
cerity,  Directness,  Vigor  and  Ethical  Earnestness. 
What  they  said  and  penned  they  expressed  in  sen- 
tences  short,    frank,    pointed,    forceful    and    serious. 


BEDE    TO    THE    CHRONICLE.  21 

They   called  things  by  their  right  names;  said  just 
what  they  meant,  nothing  less,  nothing  more,  nothing 
different;  spoke  "right  on"  as    "plain,  blunt  men," 
in  terse,   pithy   and  homely   English,   with  no   other 
purpose  than  to  be  understood  and  felt.     Just  here 
is  seen  the  great  difference  between  our  first  prose  and 
first  poetry.     The  verse  abounds  in  abrupt  inversion, 
in  paraphrase,  excessive  apposition,  restatement  and' 
circuitous  forms.     In  fact,  these  are  its  main  marks 
and  make  it  at  times  so  difficult  as  to  defy  a  clear 
rendering.     There  is,  perhaps,  no  language  in  which 
there  is  such  a  wide  difference  as  to  structure  and 
consequent    difficulty    between   the    prose    and    the 
verse,  as  in   First-English.     This   difference,  fortun- 
ately, is  all  in  favor  of  the   prose.     It  is   probable 
that  there  is  no  period  of  Modern-English  Prose  in 
which  there  is  so  little  waste  of  words  in  the  expres- 
sion of  thought  as  in  this  earliest  one.     Little  is  to 
be  said,  however,  as  to  grace  or  finish  of  structure  in 
the  prose.     It  was  as  devoid  of  that  quality,  as  it  was 
of  moral   looseness.     With  the  exception,  however, 
of  grace  and  descriptive  ease,  we  find  in  the  prose  all 
the  higher  elements  of  a  good  literary  product.     In 
an  age  so  wide-mouthed  as  the  present,  when  fluency 
and  ideas  are  so  often  in  the  inverse  ratio,  something 
is  still  to  be  learned,  perchance,  of  this  olden  time, 
when  men  spoke  and  wrote  for  a  purpose  and  were 
sparing  of  their  words. 

As  to  the  moral  quality  of  the  prose,  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  in  addition  to  the  homilies,  Chris- 
tian biographies,  commentaries  and  religious  treatises 
of  the  time,  each  of  the  prominent  prose  writers — 
Bede,  Alfred  and  Aelfric — translated  larger  or  smaller 
portions  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  common  speech  of 


22  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

the  people.  Morley,  in  his  "Illustrations  of  English 
Religion,"  has  very  naturally  dwelt  upon  such  strik- 
ing facts  as  these,  and  despite  the  cynical  allusions  of 
Mr.  Taine  and  the  liberal  school,  they  can  scarcely  be 
ignored. 

Before  leaving  this  opening  era,  it  is  of  interest  to 
inquire  as  to  the  agencies  which  were  at  work  for 
and  against  the  development  of  a  native  English 
Prose. 

As  to  those  which  were  adverse,  there  were  two  of 
special  prominence.     One  is  found  in  the  prevalence 
and  bitterness  of  civil  strife  somewhat  deepened  by 
foreign  wars.     It  is  a  matter  of  no    small  surprise 
that  any  degree  of  literary  life  could  have  been  main- 
tained in  such  an  era  and   that  Alfred   could  have 
done  much  of  his  best  work  in  prose  with  the  sword 
in  one  hand  and  the  pen  in  the  other.     As  the  Jews 
in  the  days  of  Nehemiah,  they  must  perforce,  build 
and   battle  at  the  same  time.     Such  a  condition  of 
tilings  is  a  practical  explanation  of  the  moral  sobri- 
ety of  the  prose,  and  a  full  explanation  of  its  frag- 
mentary character,  its  comparatively  small  amount, 
and  the  narrow  range  of  subjects  it  includes.  Literary 
art  needed  a  more  congenial  soil  in  which  to  take 
root  and  produce  the  best  fruitage.     The  temple  of 
letters  as  that  of  Jehovah  at  Jerusalem  must  be  built 
in    times   of  peace.      A   further   adverse    agency   is 
visible  in  the  prevalence  of  the  Latin  as  the  vernacu- 
lar of   the  island  after  the  establishment  of  Rome's 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  power.     It  is  not  the  purpose, 
here,  to  arraign  the    Latin    at   the   English    bar    to 
answer  for  this,  or  to  diminish  in  one  iota  that  large 
measure    of  benefit  which    has    accrued  to  England 
and    the    English  tongue  from  this  kindred  speech. 


BEDE    TO    THE    CHRONICLE.  23 

If  is  in  point,  however,  to  state  that  by  reason  of  this 
Roman  and  Romish  supremacy  it  was  a  much  more 
difficult  matter  for  the  native  language  to  make  any 
headway  or  the  native   authors  to  found   a  native 
literature.     The    very   word    which    meant,    Latin — 
leden — also  meant  language,  as  if  the  two  things  were 
identical.     So  potent  was  this  influence  that  as  has 
been  seen,  Bede  and  others  vielded  to  it.     Aelfric  and 
others  compromised  on  the  interlinear  method,  and 
Alfred  alone  resisted  and  overcame   it.     Even    this 
was  somewhat  due  to  the  fact  that  he  lived  in  the 
ninth  century,  when  the  Roman  influence  had  dimin- 
ished or  was  superseded    by  Danish  and  other  less 
potent  and  pervasive  agents.     Anglo-Latin  was  the 
prevailing  language;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  un- 
conquerable   English    spirit   of  these    writers,    their 
translations    of  Scripture    into    the    folk-speech,  the 
work  of  Alfred  and  of  the  compilers  of  The  Chronicle, 
— the  name  of  First-English  as  applied  to  this  period 
would  indeed  be  a  misnomer.     In  asking  for  a  state- 
ment of  those  agencies  which  were  friendly  to   the 
formation   of  a   home  prose,  attention  must  first  be 
called  to  this  innate  and  indomitable  English  spirit 
which  demanded  the  preference   of  the   native   lan- 
guage to  all  foreign  rivals;   to  the   wise  and    loyal 
policy  of  Alfred  as  a  king,  an  author  and  a  man;  to 
the  early  opposition  of  the  native  Church  to  the  order 
and  doctrine  of  the  Romish;  to  the  preparation    of 
the  Biblical  and  secular  manuals  in  the  vernacular; 
and,  most  of  all,  to  those  marked  providential  agen- 
cies at  work  separating  this  western  home  more  and 
more  distinctly  from  the  traditions  and  teachings  of 
eastern  and  continental  Europe.     Even  so  cautions 
and  critical  an  author  as  Ten   Brinck,  in  closing  his 


24  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

survey  of  this  period  writes — "  The  English  Lan- 
guage had  by  that  time  reached  a  high  degree  of  cul- 
ture and  aptitude  for  the  purposes  of  prose  writing." 
The  spirit  and  drift  of  the  age  was  after  all  Teutonic 
rather  than  South  European.  Hence  the  remark  of 
Mgrley  relative  to  the  Anglo-Latin  element — "They 
are  English  studies,  English  aspirations  that  we  fol- 
low through  the  Latin  Literature.  The  accident  that 
use  is  made  of  a  continental  language  leaves  the 
native  character  unchanged."  Even  the  Danish 
hordes  that  infested  the  land  were  pure  Teutons,  and 
it  was  not  till  the  incoming  of  the  Norman-French 
that  this  Teutonic  impulse  received  any  substantial 
check.  First-English  Prose,  fragmentary  and  com- 
posite as  it  is,  is  after  all,  more  English  than  it  is 
anything  else.  In  its  spirit  altogether  English  and 
so,  to  a  good  degree,  in  its  letter  and  texture,  it  forms 
the  opening  chapter  in  that  grand  historic  series 
which  takes  a  new  departure  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth, 
and  is  even  now  in  manifest  expression  before  us. 
Bacon  and  Addison,  Johnson  and  De  Quincey  would 
not  have  been  what  they  are  in  English  literary  prose 
had  it  not  been  for  these  men  of  vigor  who  centuries 
before  them  did  their  pioneer  and  preparatory  work. 
"  Thus  even  before  the  Norman  Conquest  there  ap- 
peared phenomena  in  England,"  writes  one,  "presag- 
ing the  Middle  Age  of  English," — presaging,  we  may 
add,  the  Modern  Age  of  English  Speech  and  Letters. 
Such  is  the  law  of  historical  sequence  as  applied  in 
the  domain  of  language  and  literature. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ENGLISH  PEOSE  FROM  THE  CHRONICLE 
TO  BACON. 

The  chronological  limits  of  this  period  extend  from 
the  close  of  The  Chronicle  (1154),  on  through  the 
death  of  Chancer  (1400)  to  the  full  opening  of  the 
Modern  English  Period, in  1561 — the  birth  of  Bacon. 
This  period,  it  will  be  seen,  is  not  as  long  by  a 
century  as  that  which  preceded;  and.  yet,  it  rep- 
resents, especially  at  the  close  of  it,  a  list  of  authors 
and  an  amount  of  English  prose  product  altogether 
superior  to  anything  that  had  preceded  it  and  quite 
indispensable  in  its  preparative  relation  to  what  was 
to  follow.  The  general  literary  character  of  this 
period,  both  as  to  prose  and  poetry,  is  a  matter  of 
history.  Discouraging  as  it  is  in  some  of  its  epochs 
and  phases,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  more  atten- 
tion is  now  given  to  this  intervening  period  than  at 
any  previous  epoch.  German,  English,  and  American 
scholars  alike,  represented  by  such  men  as  Maetzner, 
Ten  Brinck  and  Brother  Azarias  are  vying  with 
each  other  in  seeking  the  full  explanation  of  that 
long  literary  decline  which  then  prevailed,  and  also, 
in  bringing  into  prominence  any  elements  of  promise 
that  then  lay  concealed  or  but  partially  revealed. 
There  is  a  true  sense  in  which  the  difficulty  of  as- 


26  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

certaining  the  real  character  of  such  eras  marks  the 
measure  of  their  importance  to  the  historical  and 
literary  student.  The  Norman  Conquest  of  1066, 
preceded  by  repeated  Danish  invasions,  had  done  its 
transforming  work,  introducing  a  new  system  of  civ- 
ilization, a  new  language,  in  part,  and  a  new  spirit. 
To  the  older  life  of  the  times  of  Bede  and  Alfred  these 
must  altogether  yield,  or  on  the  basis  of  compromise 
be  adapted  and  adjusted.  In  the  nature  of  things  and 
by  the  providential  course  of  events,  there  was  a  kind 
of  union  of  systems,  each  retaining  cardinal  charac- 
teristics of  its  own.  The  result  was,  The  Middle- 
English  Prose.  In  speaking  of  the  agencies  at  work 
in  the  First-English  Period  against  the  development 
of  a  native  English  Prose,  we  mentioned  Foreign 
Influence  and  Civil  Strife.  It  is  suggestive  to  note 
that  these,  in  somewhat  different  form  and  measure, 
are  the  obstacles  at  work  in  the  Middle  Period.  In 
the  early  portion  of  the  era — from  its  opening  to 
Chaucer — the  great  opposing  influence  was  the 
Norman-French.  Beginning  early  in  the  eleventh 
century  and  culminating  in  the  year  1066,  its  influ- 
ence is  distinctly  marked  as  far  on  as  to  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  chief  result  as  far  as 
structure  is  concerned,  was  the  change  of  English 
from  an  inflected  to  an  uninflected  language,  and  as 
to  vocabulary,  the  introduction  of  a  large  number  of 
foreign  words.  However  true  the  theory  may  be, 
that  this  phonetic  decay  of  English  would  have  taken 
place  in  obedience  to  an  inevitable  tendency  of  lan- 
guage to  simplify,  it  must,  still,  be  conceded  that 
such  decay  was  greatly  hastened  by  Norman  influ- 
ence. The  result  was  that  First-English  gave  place 
somewhat  violently  to  another  form  of  English,  call 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO    BACON.  27 

it  what  we  may.  From  this  time  on,  it  was  all  the 
more  difficult  for  native  writers  to  express  their 
thoughts  in  native  forms,  or  when  so  expressed,  to 
have  them  accepted.  As  in  the  earlier  era,  Anglo- 
Latin  was  the  prevailing  tongue,  as  used  by  Bede,  so 
now,  Anglo-Norman,  as  it  is  called,  was  the  liter- 
ary language  with  the  old  Latin  influence  largely  re- 
maining. In  fact,  Norman-French  and  Latin  now 
combined  to  make  the  cultivation  of  the  home  litera- 
ture almost  impossible.  Hence  it  is  that  modern  lit- 
erary historians  in  commenting  on  this  period,  cor- 
rectly speak  of  English  writers  in  Latin  and  French. 
They  wrote  either  in  Latin  or  in  French  or  in  both 
combined — in  anything  but  pure  English.  Such 
prose  writers  were  those  who  wrote  immediately  at 
the  opening  of  the  Middle  Period,  when  the  foreign 
influences  were  the  strongest,  and  who  disappear  as 
we  near  the  days  of  Caxton.  Such  were  William  of 
Malmesbury,  Ralph  Higden,  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth, 
Richard  De  Bury  and  Roger  Bacon.  They  were  in 
no  honest  sense  writers  of  English,  and  cannot  claim 
from  the  student  of  English  Prose  more  than  a  pas- 
sing notice.  In  chronicles,  historical  romance,  and 
philosophy,  they  undoubtedly  quickened  the  intellect- 
ual and  literary  life  of  the  time,  but  did  little  or  noth- 
ing directly  for  the  English  as  a  language.  So  domi- 
nant was  this  foreign  influence  for  a  century  and  a 
half  after  the  Conquest,  that  these  Latin  and  French 
authors  on  English  soil  had  the  field  to  themselves. 
There  was  no  such  thing  just  then  as  a  substantial 
body  of  vernacular  prose.  It  is  to  this  very  period 
that  Ten  Brinck  refers  as  he  says, — "  The  English  Lan- 
guage could  not  maintain  itself  in  the  foreground  of 
literature   against   the   two-fold   competition    of  the 


28  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Latin,  which  more  than  ever  held  the  ear  of  scholars, 
and  of  the  Anglo-Norman,  which  was  the  idiom  of 
power  and  of  fashion.  It  withdrew  more  and  more 
into  obscurity,  as  if  to  gather  strength  for  better  times." 
Such  a  work  as,  The  Ancren  Riwle,  by  Bishop  Poor, 
written  first  in  Middle-English  and  then  in  Latin, 
was  based  on  a  kind  of  compromise  between  the  two 
languages.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  English 
people  has  there  been  a  period  when  the  home  speech 
was  so  completely  in  abeyance,  and  foreign  forms  so 
potent.  It  was  not  till  the  second  half  of  the  four- 
teenth century  that  this  was  changed  and  English 
began  to  assert  itself  with  some  prospect  of  success. 
Though  this  was  signally  true  in  poetry,  it  was  true 
to  some  extent,  also,  in  prose.  In  the  latter  part  of 
this  era,  or  from  the  death  of  Chaucer  on,  we  meet 
a  new  obstacle  in  English  Prose,  in  the  Civil  Wars 
of  The  Roses,  more  deadly,  if  possible,  than  the  bitter 
feuds  of  the  Octarchy.  No  sooner  had  the  literature 
taken  on  a  national  as  opposed  to  a  provincial  form, 
than  these  prolonged  conflicts  made  it  tend  back  again 
to  dialects  and  local  usage.  As  we  stand  at  the  tomb 
of  Chaucer  and  cast  the  eye  along  the  following  cen- 
tury, we  are  prepared  to  appreciate  the  comparison 
which  Warton  makes  between  those  times  of  promise 
and  the  beauty  of  a  premature  spring.  The  latter  is 
no  more  surely  followed  by  a  short  return  of  wintry 
winds  than  was  the  former  by  a  period  of  literary 
coldness  and  death.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  of  which  it  is  truthfully  remarked 
by  M  or  ley,  "  that  it  has  not  bred  for  us  a  single  writer 
of  the  foremost  rank."  This  is  true,  though  it  is  pos- 
sible to  number  no  less  than  half  a  hundred  versifiers 
and  not  a  few  prose  writers  as  properly  belonging  to 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO    BACON.  29 

this  period.  Of  the  last  fifty  years,  beginning  at  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII,  better  things  can  be  said.  As 
far  back  as  Caxton,  a  neAv  movement  was  partly  vis- 
ible as  hastened  and  matured  by  the  introduction  of 
printing  into  England  and  by  the  liberal  policy  of 
the  king  toward  men  of  letters.  Not  only  is  there 
now  a  new  intellectual  life  abroad,  and  English 
Poetry  under  Italian  influence  is  rising  to  newness 
of  life,  but  in  the  special  department  of  English  Prose 
there  is  a  deep  and  wide  revival  of  interest.  A  good 
number  of  names  may  be  cited  here  as  working  de- 
cidedly in  this  domain,  while  it  has  been  suggestively 
remarked  by  not  a  few  critics  that  the  prose  of  these 
years  will  very  favorably  compare  with  that  which 
followed  in  the  age  of  Hooker. 

This  upward  movement  calls  attention  to  what  may 
be  termed  the  friendly  agencies  at  work  on  behalf  of 
a  native  prose.  Mention  might  be  made  here  of  the 
loss  of  Normandy  in  1204,  by  which  the  Dukes  of 
Normandy  were  no  longer  Kings  of  England,  and  the 
political  separations  of  the  two  countries  was  substan- 
tially completed.  The  English  victories  in  the  Civil 
Wars  tended,  also,  to  the  same  beneficent  result. 
Macaulay's  prophecy,  that  if  France  had  gained  in 
these  struggles,  England  would  have  become  her  de- 
pendency, was  not  a  wild  prophecy  and  was  nulli- 
fied by  England's  success.  If  we  add  to  these,  the 
friendly  offices  of  the  government  toward  native  En- 
glish writers,  we  have  a  partial  explanation,  at  least, 
of  the  new  awakening  in  prose  letters. 

The  two  agencies  of  special  note,  however,  remain 
to  be  stated. 

The  first    was,    Tic   Introduction   of  Printing  into 
England  by   Caxton  and  his  colleagues.     In  Cologne, 


30  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

in  1471,  Caxton  published  the  first  book  ever  printed 
in  the  English  Language,  and  in  1474,  the  first  En- 
glish book  ever  printed  in  England.  Each  of  these 
was  translated  from  the  French,  and  it  was  in 
the  province  of  translation  and  revision  that  he 
put  forth  most  of  his  energy.  As  most  great 
workers,  he  little  understood  the  meaning  of  the 
instrument  he  had  in  hand  and  its  best  uses.  In- 
stead of  publishing  the  accepted  authors  of  former 
times,  and  thereby  giving  examples  of  the  best  styles, 
most  of  the  issues  of  his  press  were  in  the  department 
of  romance.  We  rejoice  in  what  Caxton  did.  We 
deplore  what  he  failed  to  do  in  the  line  of  the  more 
stable  adjustment  of  a  classic  English  Prose.  The 
second  specially  helpful  agency  was  the  immediate 
result  of  printing  itself  —  The  Publication  of  the 
Christian  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular.  In  addition 
to  some  partial  versions  of  the  First-English  time  by 
Aldhelm,  Egbert,  Bede,  Alfred  and  Aelfric,  and  in 
addition  to  the  later  versions  of  Shoreham,  Hampole, 
and  Wyclif,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  between 
Caxton  and  King  James  we  find  no  less  than  four  or 
five  Bible  versions — Tyndale's,  Coverdale's,  Roger's, 
Cranmer's.  This  work  of  Bible  translation  was  a 
literary  as  well  as  a  religious  work.  It  was  invalu- 
able at  the  time  in  giving  widespread  currency  to 
the  English  tongue,  in  establishing  secular  literature 
on  a  moral  basis,  and  in  opening  the  way  for  the  En- 
glish Reformation.  Both  as  to  the  matter  of  printing 
and  that  of  Scriptural  versions,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten 
•that  while  they  belong  alike  to  prose  and  poetry,  it 
was  in  the  sphere  of  prose,  especially,  that  they  found 
their  best  expression  and  uses. 

If  we  inquire  as  to  the  writers  of  English  Prose,  in 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO    BACON.  31 

this  Middle    Period,  there  are   three  distinct  lists   of 
names  that  engage  us. 

(a)  The  first  is  found  in  that  part  of  the  period  that 
embraces  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  century 
(1350-1400),  and  includes  four  names  of  greater 
or  lesser  prominence — Chaucer,  Mandeville,  Wyclif, 
and  Trevisa.  From  Chaucer  we  have  in  English 
Prose — The  Parson's  Tale  and  the  Tale  of  Meliboeus  in 
the  Canterbury  Tales;  his  Translation  of  Boethius; 
The  Testament  of  Love;  and  the  Astrolabe,  in  which 
last  he  says  what  will  apply  to  all  his  writings — 
"  By  this  treatise  I  will  show  thee  naked  words  in 
English."  In  the  first  of  these  writings  we  find  what 
might  pass  for  a  sermon  on  Jer.  vi.  16,  wherein  the 
Pilgrim's  Progress  of  Bunyan  is  anticipated  in  the 
poet's  most  serious  vein.  In  the  second,  the  same 
strain  of  serious  allegory  is  continued  in  dialogue 
between  Meliboeus  and  his  wife,  Prudence,  wherein 
it  is  taught  that  life  should  be  under  the  control  of 
the  moral  law.  In  the  Boethius,  the  same  work 
which  Alfred  did  nearly  five  centuries  before,  is  taken 
up  again  and  the  union  of  the  First  and  the  Middle 
Period  happily  effected  in  the  sphere  of  ethical  prose. 
It  is  thus  reserved  for  Chaucer  not  only  to  preserve 
the  moral  continuity  of  English  Letters,  but  to  sub- 
stitute for  the  Consolation  of  Philosophy  the  higher 
consolations  of  religion.  It  is  not  a  little  peculiar 
here,  as  Morley  suggests,  that  although  the  original 
Boethius  has  poetry  as  well  as  prose,  and  although 
Alfred  has  handed  down  to  us  his  Metres, — the  later 
English  translator  is  so  intent  upon  the  prose  of  this 
didactic  treatise,  that  he  studiously  omits  the  render- 
ing of  the  verse. 

In  the  Testament  of  Love,  supposed  by  some  not 


32  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

to  be  genuine,  there  is  a  most  interesting  passage  of 
The  Prologue  insisting  on  the  wider  use  of  the 
native  language — "  Lette  than  elerkes  enditen  in 
Latin  and  lette  Frenchmen  in  their  Frenche  also 
enditen  their  queinte  termes,  for  it  is  kyndely 
(natural)  to  their  mouthes,  and  let  us  show  our  fan-' 
tasies  in  soche  wordes  as  we  lerneden  of  our  dame's 
tonge."  This  has  the  true  ring  about  it,  and  marks 
the  man  who  spoke  it  as  loyal  above  all  to  the  speech 
of  his  fathers.  The  writer  pleads  in  this  work  for 
the  presence  and  solace  of  the  Love  of  God  in  the  time 
of  trial — the  trial  in  his  own  case  being  supposed  to 
refer  to  his  imprisonment  in  1388.  Of  the  Astrolabe 
suffice  it  to  say,  that  it  is  written  for  the  benefit  of 
his  son  Lewis,  and  a  few  years  before  the  authors 
death.  In  it  he  takes  frequent  occasion  to  praise  the 
use  of  the  native  English,  and  while  encouraging  his 
son  in  the  study  of  Astronomy  makes  ever  and  anon 
suggestive  hints  on  education  and  morals. 

From  the  pen  of  Mandeville  we  have  "The  Travels," 
— an  account  of  his  more  than  thirty  years'  sojourn 
in  the  East,  making  a  sort  of  guide-book  for  those 
who  might  be  inclined  to  journey  over  the  same 
ground.  Dedicated  to  Edward  III.,  the  date  of  its 
publication  was  1356.  Translated  from  Latin  into 
the  French  and  then  into  English,  it  became  as  an 
English  treatisewidely  popular.  It  had  just  enough 
of  facts  in  it  to  please  the  historian,  and  just  enough 
of  miracle  and  Eastern  legend  to  frame  a  romance 
for  the  curious  reader.  It  served  to  continue  in  En- 
glish romantic  prose  what  Geoffrey  ot  Monmouth  and 
his  Anglo-Norman  colleagues  had  begun  earlier  in 
the  era,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  that  special  kind 
of  prose   in    later  periods   which  is  marked    by  the 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO   BACON.  33 

adventurous   spirit.      Of  Wyclif  and  his  work,  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  speak. 

His  English  version  of  the  Scriptures  was  corn 
pleted  in  1380— the  first  complete  Bible  translation 
into  English.  Though  not  printed  until  centuries 
later,  it  was  for  a  century  and  a  half  the  Bible  oi 
England,  and,  what  concerns  us  here  especially,  was 
the  standard  English  Prose  of  the  time.  It  is  simply 
impossible  to  estimate  the  immediate  and  continuous 
effect  of  this  version  upon  the  English  mind  and  the 
English  speech.  With  over  ninety  per  cent  of  native 
words  in  it,  and  being  distinctively  the  people's  book, 
it  entered  into  the  secular  life  and  common  speech  of 
the  time  as  an  essential  element.  It  did  for  that  age 
what  Tyndale's  version  did  for  his;  and  though  a 
treatise  purely  Biblical,  takes  its  place  in  the  history 
of  English  Prose  as  an  example  of  secular  literature. 
The  Bible  was  inspired,  but  its  diction  was  Wyclif  a 
and  it  was  English  to  the  core. 

There  remains  a  single  name  in  this  first  list, — that 
of  Trevisa,  who  did  good  work  in  converting  Latin 
books  into  English,  and  his  best  work  in  giving  an 
English  rendering  of  Higden's  Polychronicon  (1387), 
— a  kind  of  universal  history  bearing  especially  on 
that  of  England.  If  we  compare  Trevisa,  the  English 
Translator,  with  Higden,  the  Anglo- Latin  original, 
we  can  get  a  very  just  idea  of  the  difference  between 
an  Englishman  writing  in  Latin  and  an  Englishman 
writing  in  his  mother  tongue.  Trevisa  as  contrasted 
with  Higden  reveals  to  us  the  progress  that  was 
slowly  under  way  from  the  foreign  to  the  native 
language. 

(b)  The  second  list  of  writers  of  Middle-English 
Prose,  also,  numbers  four,  and  brings  us  into  the  six- 


34  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

teentli  century  (1400-1500).  They  are  Peeock,  Fortes- 
cue,  Caxton,  and  Malory.  Of  the  first  of  these  authors, 
it  is  known  that  he  was  a  man  of  high  degree  in  the 
Church,  able  in  theological  controversy,  arguing  in 
English  Treatises  against  the  Lollards,  and  produc- 
ing at  length,  his  most  famous  work, — The  Eepres- 
Bor  of  Over  Much  Blaming  of  The  Clergy.  As  to  its 
purpose,  it  is  enough  to  state,  that  it  was  a  vindica- 
tion of  the  clergy  against  those  charges  made  by  the 
"  Bible  Men,"  and  others,  in  justification  of  pilgrimages 
and  similar  practices.  We  have  to  do  with  it  simply 
as  a  specimen  of  Middle-English  Prose,  and  in  that 
particular  it  deserves  an  emphatic  mention  as  we  pass 
along.  Mixed  as  his  English  was,  it  was  English,  and 
much  purer  than  his  doctrine  which  trimmed  too 
closely  between  reason  and  faith. 

Fortescue  introduces  us  into  an  entirely  new  depart- 
ment of  prose — that  of  political  and  constitutional 
law.  A  man  of  high  descent,  of  large  legal  learning, 
of  official  rank  as  a  jurist  and  strongly  inclined  to 
democratic  views  in  government,  his  main  English 
treatise  is — The  Difference  between  Absolute  and 
Limited  Monarchy.  The  object  is  the  same  that  he 
had  in  view  in  his  Latin  work  on,  The  Praises  of  the 
Laws  of  England;  namely,  to  show  the  superiority  of 
a  modified  form  of  liberal  government  to  that  which 
is  extremely  restrictive  or  absolute.  The  spirit  is 
the  spirit  of  Alfred  of  old,  and  he  writes  as  a  man 
who  was  looking  forward  more  than  two  centuries 
when  English  liberties  were  to  be  fully  established  at 
the  revolution  of  1688,  under  William.  Of  William 
Caxton  enough  has  already  been  said  to  show  how 
in  the  line  of  translating  foreign  books  into  English, 
and  as  an  original  writer  and  printer,  he  furthered  the 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO    BACON.  35 

good  work  already  began  and  probably  did  more 
than  any  secular  author  of  his  time  on  behalf  of  En- 
glish  Prose,  secular  and  Scriptural.  Of  the  last  of 
this  list,  Malory,  little  is  known;  but  that  little  is 
valuable.  Enough  is  known  to  state  that  in  speech 
and  writings  he  separated  himself  from  all  those  who 
still  dallied  with  the  courtly  French,  and  entered 
heartily  into  the  English  movement.  His  book — 
The  Byrth,  Life,  and  Actes  of  King  Arthur — is  full  of 
Christian  spirit,  and  though  dealing  with  the  times 
of  the  great  British  hero,  is  marked  by  a  true  English 
zest  and  phrase.  The  extreme  eulogiums  pronounced 
upon  it  by  critics  serve  to  show  that  it  has  a  right- 
ful place  among  the  best  examples  of  Middle-English 
Prose  and  serves  as  another  link  to  connect  that 
history  with  all  that  follows. 

Among  the  literary  prose  productions  of  this  cen- 
tury, "  The  Paston  Letters"  deserve  honorable  mention 
not  only  by  reason  of  their  intrinsic  merit,  but  of  their 
peculiar  relation  at  the  time,  to  the  history  of  our 
prose,  and  of  the  important  light  which  they  throw 
on  many  matters  otherwise  obscure.  These  letters 
appear  to  have  been  written  in  the  reigns  of  Henry 

VI.  and  Edward  IV.,  even  on  to  the  time  of  Henry 

VII.  Composed  by  the  members  of  a  highly  respect- 
able though  not  an  aristocratic  family,  they  interpret 
as  nothing  else  could  have  done  the  English  life  of 
the  times.  There  is  in  such  letters  an  informal  and 
ingenuous  expression  of  opinion  quite  foreign  to  the 
more  critical  and  elaborate  treatise.  The  private 
correspondence  of  Racine  and  Boileau,  of  Goethe  and 
Schiller,  and  of  Addison  and  his  contemporaries, 
reveals  to  us  far  more  of  the  character  of  the  respec- 
tive men  and  their  eras  than  any  of  their  more  formal 


36  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

productions  could  possibly  do.  Such  a  form  of  episto- 
lary prose  is  especially  valuable  in  an  age  when  good 
literature  is  struggling  for  existence  against  grievous 
obstacles,  and  when  the  natural  expression  of  thought 
is  most  difficult  and  most  desirable.  When,  there- 
fore, in  The  Pastou  Letters  we  discern  a  good  degree 
of  grammatical  accuracy,  a  comparatively  large  vo- 
cabulary, and  a  fluency  of  diction  indicating  "  the 
pen  of  a  ready  writer,"  we  at  once,  accept  the  corres- 
pondence as  a  good  specimen  of  the  current  prose  of 
the  time. 

(c)  A  third  and  somewhat  fuller  list  of  Modern- 
English  Prosers  in  this  middle  era  awaits  us  as  we 
pass  into  the  sixteenth  century,  almost  within  sight 
ot  the  Essays  of  Bacon,  and  the  era  called  Modern. 
The  call  of  the  roll  is  substantially  as  follows, — More, 
Latimer,  Lord  Berners,  Eiyot,  Hall,  Fabyan,  Leland, 
Tyndale  and  Ascham.  "Though  these  writers,"  as 
Minto  suggests,  "are  very  far  from  being  of  use  as 
models  of  style,"  we  may  add,  that  they  serve  a  most 
important  use  in  our  study  of  the  historic  develop- 
ment of  English  Prose  from  its  beginning  to  its 
present  forms.  With  More  as  the  author  of  "  Utopia" 
and  other  Latin  treatises,  we  have  nothing  to  do;  but 
with  More  as  a  literary  leader  of  his  time  and  the 
author  of  English  works  such  as,  Edward  V.  and 
Richard  III.  we  have  much  to  do.  Young,  brilliant 
and  scholarly;  versed  in  all  classical  and  modern  lore, 
he  was  even  in  his  Latin  writings  a  quickener  of  the 
English  mind,  while  in  so  far  as  he  wrote  in  the 
native  tongue,  the  weight  of  his  personal  influence 
gave  to  his  words  unwonted  power. 

Latimer  was  the  John  Knox  of  his  time,  and  is  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  English  Theological  Prose 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO    BACON.  37 

as  a  writer  of  bold,  impassioned,  pungent  sermons. 
He  preached  straight  at  the  "  conscience  of  the 
king  "  and  of  all  who  heard  him,  and  on  such  wise 
that  moral  reformation  speedily  followed.  The  fact 
is,  that  the  pulpit  prose  of  that  day  might  well  be- 
come the  model  of  modern  sermonizers,  when  men 
wrote  with  the  Bible  before  them  and  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men.  One  of  the  English  yeomanry  by  birth, 
his  homely  prose  took  right  hold  of  the  honest  En- 
glish heart  and  moulded  the  character  of  the  common 
people.  Of  Berners  it  is  sufficient  to  state,  that  in 
his  translation  of  Froissart's  "Chronicle"  he  gives 
more  than  an  average  specimen  of  the  prose  writing 
of  his  time;  and  of  Elyot,  that  his  "Governor  "  pre- 
sents not  only  a  valuable  educational  treatise  for  that 
early  period,  but  a  helpful  one  in  the  line  of  native 
prose.  His  other  works — on  philology,  sanitary  and 
social  science — prove  him  to  have  been  as  versatile 
as  he  was  practical.  Hall,  Fabyan,  and  Leland  were 
the  chroniclers  of  their  time  in  the  line  of  work 
begun  by  Froissart,  in  Latin,  and  continued  by 
Berners  in  English, — one  writing,  The  Union  of  the 
Family  of  Lancaster  and  Yorke;  another,  The 
Chronicles  of  England  and  France,  partly  in  prose 
and,  partly,  in  verse;  and  the  third,  The  Itinerary, 
doing  for  travelers  in  England  what  Mandeville  had 
done  for  tourists  to  Jerusalem  and  the  East.  It  is 
pleasing  to  note  that  though,  as  the  King's  Anti- 
quary, he  wrote  much  in  Latin,  his  best  prose  work 
is  in  his  own  tongue.  We  are  now  brought. to  the 
name  of  Tyndale  and  his  great  work  of  Bible  transla- 
tion. In  the  face  of  threats  from  every  quarter,  he 
determined  to  "open  the-  King  of  England's  eyes," 
as  to  Protestant  teachings,  and  to  give  the  Bible  to 


38  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

the  people  in  their  own  tongue,  so  that  boys  of  the 
anvil  and  the  plow  would  know  more  of  God's 
Word  than  Papal  priests  did.  But  we  are  studying 
the  subject  of  English  Prose,  and  with  this  in  view  it 
uiaj'-  be  stated,  that  Tyndale's  version  of  the  Scrip- 
tures— the  first  printed  version  extant — occupies  on 
its  secular  side  as  important  a  relation  to  the  history 
of  our  prose  literature  as  any  other  one  book.  Su- 
perior to  YVyclifs,  in  that  it  was  from  the  original 
and  was  printed,  it  had  the  advantage,  also,  of  all 
later  versions,  in  that  it  appeared  just  when  it  was 
most  needed.  It  determined,  then  and  there,  for 
all  subsequent  history,  the  fortunes  of  the  English 
tongue  and  formed  a  basis  for  subsequent  versions. 
It  did  for  English  what  Luther's  version,  a  few  years 
earlier,  did  for  German ;  and  no  arithmetic  can  com- 
pute the  indebtedness  of  the  respective  languages 
to  the  respective  translations.  Thousands  who  fail 
to  form  their  lives  on  Scriptural  teachings,  form 
their  speech  upon  them ;  and  to  these,  and  the  daily 
journals,  and  a  few  printed  books  of  household  use, 
look  for  all  that  they  learn  of  style  and  diction. 
Nor  is  it  to  be  forgotten  here,  that  this  close  of  the 
Middle-English  era  was  an  era  of  translations  of 
Scripture.  Coverdale's  version  in  1535,  Matthew's  or 
Rogers,  in  1537,  and  Cranraer's  (The  Great  Bible)  in 
1539,  appeared  as  the  direct  result  of  Tyndale's  work. 
"  It  was  wonderful  to  see,"  says  the  quaint  historian 
Strype,  "  with  what  joy  this  Book  of  God  was  received 
not  only  among  the  learneder  sort,  but  all  England 
over."  It  was  tor  all  England  over  that  it  was  meant, 
and  in  this  fact  lay  its  power  as  a  specimen  of 
English  Prose.  The  last  name  of  the  list  before  us  is 
the  name  of  Ascham,   who  stands  on  the  border  line 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO    BACON.  39 

between  the  old  and  the  new,  acting  alike  as  an 
historian  and  a  herald.  "  His  chief  service  to  En- 
glish Prose,"  as  Minto,  referring  to  Drake,  declares, 
"  is  the  example  he  sets  of  writing  in  the  vernacular." 
In  his  "  Toxophilus,"  he  gives  the  principles  of  good 
writing,  as  well  as  of  archery,  and  in  his  "  School- 
master," touches  on  various  topics  of  interest  in 
education.  "  I  write,"  he  says,  "  English  matter,  in 
the  English  Language,  for  Englishmen. "  He  resolves 
"to  think  as  wise  men,  and  to  speak  as  the  common 
people."  He  is  eager  to  write  something  for  the 
yeomen  of  England  and  in  his  classical  studies  not 
to  forget  his  own  birth-tongue.  Mr.  Disraeli  is  right 
when  he  says,  "  that  the  volumes  of  Ascham  are  in- 
dispensable to  any  English  library  whose  possessor 
in  any  way  wishes  to  connect  the  progress  of  taste 
and  opinion  in  the  history  of  our  country."  Similar 
in  spirit  to  Fuller  and  Walton,  he  did  in  his  day  an 
invaluable  work  in  English  Prose,  and  connects  him- 
self historically  with  all  that  is  best  in  our  letters. 
Living  and  writing  in  four  different  reigns,  he  may 
well  be  regarded  as  the  last  of  the  Middle-English 
list,  or  the  first  of  the  Modern  in  the  realm  of  Prose 
Literature. 

In  surveying  this  roll  of  Prose  Writers  from 
Mandeville  to  Ascham,  it  is  to  be  noted — 

That  outside  of  the  Bible,  we  have  not  yet  found 
any  standard  prose  writers  of  native  English,  writers 
upon  whose  style  a  modern  student  may  be  safely 
urged  to  base  his  practice  and  progress.  While  this 
is  true,  we  have  found  not  a  few  of  these  names  well 
worthy  to  rank  as  forerunners  of  those  mightier  men 
whose  number  begins  with  Elooker  and  Bacon.  They 
wrote  in  times  of  great  civil  and  literary  confusion; 


40  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

in  a  language  that  may  well  be  termed,  Broken 
English,  and  in  periods  of  marked  moral  decline. 
Still,  they  were  staunch  enough  in  spirit  and  English 
purpose  to  bring  some  degree  of  order  out  of  the 
chaos;  to  maintain  the  thread  of  English  speech 
clearly  through  all  deviations  and  to  open  the  way  for 
the  speedier  incoming  of  a  stable,  Christian,  English 
prose.  No  such  example  of  stern  and  successful  re- 
sistance to  foreign  influence  can  be  found  in  history 
as  that  of  these  Middle  Englishmen  in  their  relation 
to  Latin  and  Norman-French.  In  the  face  of  all 
such  opposition,  the  body  of  the  language  remained 
what  it  had  ever  been,  while  the  native  writers 
struggled  on  midway  between  an  inflected  and  an 
uniniiected  system,  to  express  their  thought  in  native 
forms,  and  they  succeeded.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten, 
indeed,  that  to  the  Norman-French  they  were  deeply 
indebted  for  a  large  increase  of  vocabulary  and  for  a 
much  larger  variety  of  literary  form  than  was  pos- 
sible in  the  preceding  period.  Still  they  insisted, 
especially  in  prose,  that  the  freshness  of  the  old  folk- 
speech  must  remain  inviolate  so  that  after  all  the 
disorder  of  the  intervening  centuries  English  should 
emerge  in  the  time  of  Ascham  more  forceful  than 
ever  and  better  prepared  for  that  great  literary  future 
awaiting  it.  We  note  that  in  1258,  Henry  II.  issued 
"  to  all  his  faithful,  learned  and  laymen,"  a  proclama- 
tion in  the  English  tongue;  that  in  1349,  Latin  be- 
came subordinate  to  the  home  language;  that  in 
1362,  English  took  the  place  of  foreign  tongues  as 
the  language  of  the  courts;  that  in  this  year,  also, 
Parliament  was  opened  for  the  first  time  in  English; 
that  even  in  the  fifteenth  century,  French  became  an 
accomplishment  rather  than  a  necessity,  and  that  at 


THE    CHRONICLE    TO    BACON.  41 

trie  invention  of  Printing,  in  1442,  the  change  from 
Middle  to  Modern-English  Prose  was  philologically 
and  morally  assured.  From  these  historical  facts  we 
may  get  some  glimpse  of  that  great  work  that  had 
been  done  by  these  writers,  no  one  of  whom  would 
now  rank  as  standard.  In  a  much  truer  sense  than  of 
the  First-English  Prose  it  may  be  said  that  in  our 
estimate  of  authors  and  authorship  the  line  and 
plummet  are  not  to  be  applied  too  closely  lest  we 
undervalue  what  is  of  real  importance.  We  do  not 
desire  with  the  scholarly  Erasmus  to  magnify  these 
primitive  efforts  into  something  unprecedented,  noi 
do  we  desire  to  commit  the  graver  error  of  some  later 
critics  and  count  them  out  as  of  little  moment.  It  is 
far  too  easy  to  confine  attention  to  brilliant  eras  and 
refer  epochs  of  preparation  to  the  hands  of  the 
antiquary.  English  Prose  is  said  to  begin  with 
Hooker,  and  so  it  does  as  a  national  and  stable  prose 
in  its  modern  type,  and  yet  a  noble  initial  work  had 
been  done  by  other  hands  from  Alfred  to  Ascham. 
In  Italy,  the  way  for  the  golden  age  was  prepared  by 
an  early  Arabian  influence  at  work  in  Southern 
Europe.  In  France  and  Germany,  similar  preparative 
processes  opened  the  way.  Such  influences  though 
silent,  isolated,  and  irregular,  are,  after  all,  determina- 
tive and  constructive.  If  fewer  and  less  excellent 
prose  writings  are  found  in  early  England  than  are 
found  later,  it  was  because  nothing  was  fixed  in 
literature  or  society,  in  politics  or  culture,  and  partial 
results  were  the  best  possible.  But  had  it  not  been 
for  these  old  chroniclers,  translators,  reformers  and 
preachers,  the  golden  periods  of  English  Prose  might 
have  been  deferred  for  centuries,  if,  indeed,  they  had 
ever  become  a  part  of  our  literary  history.     We  re- 


42  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

gard  it  as  one  of  the  urgent  literary  needs  of  the  time 
that  due  attention  be  given  by  English  critics  and 
readers  to  these  first  and  middle  eras.  It  is  cer- 
tainly an  omen  of  good  that  increasing  interest  is 
now  developing  in  these  directions.  Writers  are 
calling  attention  to  the  necessity  of  the  study  of  our 
first  authors,  not  simply  as  a  matter  of  etymological 
profit,  but  as  the  means  by  which  an  insight  is  to 
be  obtained  into  our  later  literary  life  and  history. 
Until  the  modern  English  student  is  thus  furnished  he 
is  but  half  educated,  and  is  using  a  language  of  which 
he  is  ignorant  as  to  its  origin  and  progress.  Ever 
and  anon  as  he  advances  from  age  to  age,  he  will 
discern  all  along  the  line  of  the  history  of  our  prose, 
points  of  junction  between  the  new  and  the  old, 
influences  and  effects  dating  in  their  causes  back  to 
Wyclifand  his  forerunners.  In  the  life  of  literature 
as  in  that  of  philosophy  and  science,  the  law  of 
continuity,  of  logical  sequence  is  fundamental;  and  as 
we  prosecute  the  study  of  modern  eras  it  may  be  well 
to  keep  before  us  the  text  of  Chaucer  in  The  Parson's 
Tale, — "  Stand  ye  in  the  old  ways,  and  see  and  ask  for 
the  old  paths." 


PART    FIRST. 

REPRESENTATIVE   HISTORICAL 
PERIODS. 


CLASSIFICATION. 

The  wide  variety  of  view  which  has  been  taken  by 
literary  historians  as  to  the  number,  limits  and  gen- 
eral characteristics  of  our  Modern  Prose  Periods, 
sufficiently  serves  to  indicate  the  difficulty  involved 
in  reaching  satisfactory  conclusions,  and  also  the  great 
importance  of  reaching  them.  Such  periods  are  far 
more  than  chronological  or  historical  in  their  import. 
They  have  as  well,  a  philosophical  and  logical  relation 
to  each  other  and  to  that  entire  period  of  which  they 
are  the  separate  parts.  This  diversity  of  view  has 
arisen,  partly,  from  the  particular  standpoint  at  which 
each  critic  has  stood  at  the  time  of  discussion ;  part- 
ly, from  the  fact  that  opinions  once  held  are  modified 
as  a  literature  advances;  and,  partly,  because  the  his- 
toric development  of  English  Prose  and  Poetry,  how- 
ever different,  has  been  sufficiently  similar  to  lead  at 
times  to  a  kind  of  classification  that  exactly  expresses 
neither  the  one  nor  the  othei\  As  far  as  poetry  is 
concerned,  the  great  historical  divisions  are  substan- 
tially the  same  among  leading  scholars.  In  Prose, 
these  divisions  take  a  wider  range  and  may  be  said 
to  be  included  in  three  quite  distinct  methods,  repre- 


44  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

sented  by  such  critics,  respectively,  as  Mackintosh, 
Minto  and  Bascom.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  first 
we  have  the  following — 

(1)  From   Sir   Thomas   More  (1500)  to  Clarendon 
(1650).  This  is  termed  the  Latin  age  of  English  Prose. 

(2)  From  the  Restoration  (1660)  to  1750.  This  is  called 
the  Classic  Age  of  natural,  idiomatic  English  Prose. 

(3)  From  Samuel  Johnson  (1750)  to  the  present  era. 
The  Rhetorical  or  Literary  Period. 

This  division,  it  will  be  noted,  is  based  on  a  some- 
what sharp  distinction  between  the  progressive 
development  of  our  prose  and  our  poetry.  The  authors 
of  it  mean  it  to  be  confined  to  prose,  and  on  this  basis 
exclusively  it  has  some  merit,  in  so  far  as  the  dates 
are  concerned.  The  names  assigned  to  the  respec- 
,  tive  periods — Latin,  Classical,  and  Rhetorical,  are  open 
to  just  criticism. 

They  are  scarcely  in  accordance  with  literary  facts. 
The  plan,  moreover,  is  narrow  and  partial. 

Mr.  Minto,  in  his  admirable  Manual  of  Prose,  goes 
directly  to  the  other  extreme  of  undue  minuteness, 
dividing  the  history  of  English  Prose  into  no  less 
than  eight  or  ten  distinct  periods,  beginning  at  1580 
and  closing  about  1850.  This  gives  to  the  different 
eras  but  an  average  length  of  a  little  over  a  quarter 
of  a  century — far  too  limited,  in  most  cases  to  mark 
the  full  development  of  the  period.  In  such  a  period 
as  1640-1670  it  might  do,  but  by  no  means  in  such 
periods— 1700-1730,  or  1790-1820.  The  classification 
as  a  whole,  is  so  full  as  to  break  the  historical  con- 
tinuity by  excessive  subdivision  of  epochs;  and  again, 
in  its  separate  parts,  so  narrow  as  to  forbid  a  free 
expression  of  the  literary  prose  of  the  time. 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS.  45 

A  third  class  of  critics,  represented  by  such  men  as 
Morley,  Masson,  Moir,  and  Bascom,  has  wisely  avoided 
each  of  these  extremes,  and  adopted  a  method  by 
which  the  logical  as  well  as  the  chronological  view 
of  English  Prose  may  be  manifested.  President  Bas- 
com, in  his  Philosophy  of  English  Literature,  ap- 
plies this  method  both  to  Modern  Prose  and  Poetry 
in  the  following  order  of  periods — 

First  Creative,  1550-1050. 

First  Transition,  1650-1700. 

First  Critical,  1700-1750, 

Second  Transition,  1750-1800. 

Second  Creative,  1800-1850. 

Period  of  Diffusion,  1850- 
In  each  of  these  six  periods,  ample  room  is  given 
for  the  full  expression  of  the  individual  life  of  the 
period  and  yet  each  is  sufficiently  compact  to  mark 
the  period  as  distinct,  while  the  excellence  of  the 
plan  lies  in  the  fact  that  behind  the  dates  as  given 
lies  the  philosophy  of  literary  progress  and  decline. 
In  the  plan  that  we  present,  this  last  order  of  divis- 
ion will  be  the  preferable  one  as  a  guide — though  as 
to  number  of  epochs,  their  names  and  relations,  we 
shall  widely  depart  from  the  order  presented,  and 
offer  a  classification  of  our  own  as  follows — 

I. — Period  of  Formation,  1560-1660. 

Bacon — Milton. 
II. — Period  of  Transition,  1660-1700. 

Milton — Addison. 
III. — Period  of  Final  Settlement,   1700-1760. 

A  ( idison — Johnson. 
IV. — Period  of  Expansion,  1760-1860. 

Johnson — Carlyle. 


46  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

The  first  of  these  eras  includes  the  reigns  of  Eliza- 
beth, James  L,  and  Charles  I.,  and  the  Protectorate. 
It  is  Elizabethan,  and  Early  Stuart,  and  Cromwellian. 
The  second  era  includes  the  reigns  of  Charles  II., 
James  II.,  William  and  Mary.  It  is  t]>e  Later  Stuart, 
or  Restoration  Era,  and  that  of  The  Revolution,  or 
Great  Rebellion. 

The  third  era  includes  the  reigns  of  Queen  Anne, 
of  George  I.,  and  George  II.  It  is  Augustan,  and 
Early  Georgian.  The  fourth  era  includes  the  reigns 
of  George  III.,  George  IV.,  William  IV.,  and  Victoria. 
It  is  later  Georgian  and  Victorian. 

We  have  thus  clearly  before  us  the  historical  limits 
of  each  of  these  four  eras,  the  leading  prose  authors 
that  mark  the  beginning  and  close  of  each,  respec- 
tively, and  the  English  kings,  queens,  and  other 
rulers  who,  in  each  respectively,  held  the  reins  of 
government  and  favored  or  retarded  the  growth  of 
letters.  We  shall  arrive  at  the  best  results  by  dis- 
cussing each  of  these  periods  separately  and,  at  the 
close,  noting  those  general  inferences  which  suggest 
themselves  from  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  four 
eras  as  one  historical  period  of  English  Prose. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FOKMATrVE  PEKIOD— 1560-1660. 

This  embraces,  as  we  have  seen,  precisely  a  cen- 
tury, the  reign  of  three  sovereigns,  including  the 
Protectorate,  and  presents  some  of  the  leading  names 
of  English  Prose.  The  widely  current  name  assigned 
to  this  epoch — The  Reformation  Period — is  some- 
what misleading  and  is  not  the  best.  In  all  depart- 
ments save  the  ecclesiastical  and  theological,  it  is 
formative  or  shaping  rather  than  re-formative.  Even 
in  the  sphere  of  the  church  itself,  formation  was, 
after  all,  the  main  work  of  Protestants.  As  English 
Protestantism  may  be  said  to  take  form  for  the  first 
time  in  the  era  before  us,  it  was  the  English  Forma- 
tion rather  than  Re-formation.  Precisely  so,  in  Eng- 
lish Prose,  as,  indeed,  in  English  Letters.  As  English 
Prose  may  be  regarded  as  having  taken  literary  form 
for  the  first  time  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  as  con- 
trasted with  the  Middle  and  First-English  Periods 
the  phrase,  formative,  is  the  proper  one  to  designate 
its  character.  It  was  in  no  true  sense,  re-formative 
In  this  respect  the  word,  creative,  so  often  assigned 
to  the  poetry  of  the  age  before  us,  is  not  out  of  place 
as  to  prose  in  so  far  as  it  involves  the  idea  of  fash- 
ioning or  shaping,  although  the  term,  formative,  best 
expresses  that  special  process  which  was  then  going 


48  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

on, — the  molding  or  adjusting  of  all  those  literary 
elements  which  were  at    hand    into  a  well  ordered 
system    of  prose  discourse.     As   yet,    there    was    no 
English  Prose  existing  as  a  body  of  literary  product 
which  could  be  re-formed.     The  work  was  more  ex- 
perimental and  tentative,  than  it  was  a  revision  of 
that  already  in  being.     We  no  sooner  open  the  best 
prose  literature  of  the  age,  such  as  Bacon's  Essays, 
Hooker's  Polity,  or  Johnson's  Discoveries,  than  we  see 
this  formative  process  in  action  before  us.     As    we 
shall  see  later  in  the.  discussion,  the  real  re-formator-y 
process  in  English   Prose    finds  ample  scope  in  the 
third  period, — that  of  Settlement.     There  was  then 
something  to  recast  into  better  shape  as  an  essential 
work  preparative  to  the  final  establishment  of  our 
Prose  Literature  either  as  a  model  for  the  student  or 
a  study  for  the  critic.     The  epoch  before  us  is  not 
without  a  fitting  parallel  in  the  progressive  history 
of  creation.     The  first  chapter  in  the  history  of  En- 
glish Prose  as  it  reads  in  the  sixteenth  century,  runs 
very  much  in  a  literary  point  of  view,  as  the  first 
chapter   of  Genesis   reads  as   an   account   of  God's 
creative  work.     It  is  a   record  of  formations.     The 
First-English  word  for  creator,  Scyppend,  the  Shaper, 
is  in  place  here  and  describes  that  partly    original 
and  partly  mechanical  or  plastic   work    which  was 
done  by  the  best  prose  writers  in  this  first  period. 
Bacon  may  be  truly  said  to  have  re-formed  philosophy. 
He  cannot  be  said  to  have  re-formed  English   Prose. 
He  did  much,  however,  toward  forming  it  and  putting 
it  in  shape  for  those  who  were  to  follow  and  perfect 
it.     In  developing  more  fully  this  particular  period, 
we  shall  examine  in  order,  its  causes  and  character- 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    PERIODS. — FORMA  TIVE.      49 

istics,  pursuing  a  line  of  discussion  somewhat  similar 
to  that  adopted  by  Hazlitt  in  his  Literature  of  the 
Age  of  Elizabeth  and  ever  keeping  in  mind  that  our 
theme  is,  Prose  Literature. 

(A.)  Causes  or  Agencies  of  Formative  English  Prose. 

Friendly  Agencies. 

(1)  We  notice,  first,  that  Antecedent  and  Prepara- 
tive Work  to  which  attention  has  been  called,  as  it 
occurred  in  First,  and, more  especially,  in  Middle-En- 
glish Prose.  Sufficient  has  been  said  in  the  historical 
survey  ofthe.se  introductory  periods  to  make  emphatic 
what  is  here  asserted.  We  have  seen  that  even  be- 
fore printing  was  introduced  by  Caxton  into  England, 
and  before  published  books  were  known,  English 
Prose  had  a  place  in  manuscript  form,  and  bore  an 
important  relation  to  all  that  followed.  We  have 
traced  the  crude  beginnings  of  prose  in  the  writings 
of  King  Alfred,  Aelfric,  and  the  compilers  of  the 
Chi-onicle.  We  have  followed  the  course  of  it  on 
through  the  days  of  Mandeville,  and  Wyclif.  and 
Ascham,  down  to  Modern-English  time.  The  history 
is  one.  The  people,  the  language,  the  spirit,  the 
purpose,  are  substantially  one.  So  connected  are 
the  epochs,  that  in  discussing  the  opening  era  of 
Modern  Prose,  we  are  driven  perforce  to  those  still 
earlier  years,  which  were  what  they  were  and  where 
they  were,  more  for  the  ages  that  followed  than  for 
themselves,  and  which  enter  as  an  essential  factor 
into  the  literary  productions  before  us.  As  a  man's 
antecedents  do  n<>t  determine,  but  largely  modify  hid 
character  and  possibilities,  so    here,  Formative    En- 


50  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

glish    Prose  was  somewhat  the  thing   that  it    was, 
because  of  the  prose  that  preceded  it. 

(2)  A  second  causative  agency  is  found  in  what 
may  well  be  called,  The  Great  Awakening  of  Euglish 
Literary  History  in  the  sixteenth  century.  It  was 
in  England  what  the  Renaissance  was  in  France 
and  in  Southern  Europe,  and  was  in  literature  what 
that  was  in  art.  The  epithet,  Great,  may  be  applied 
to  it  in  that  it  affected  all  departments  of  thought 
and  action  and  pervaded  every  class  of  society.  It 
was  a  time  of  new  ideas  and  enterprises ;  of  discovery 
and  adventure;  of  mental,  political,  and  religious 
revival — the  golden  age  of  national  life.  In  the  light 
ot  the  discussion  before  us,  there  were  two  special 
features  of  this  awakening  that  demand  emphatic 
notice. 

(a)  It  was  distinctly  modern, — a  time  of  evoking 
new  forces  into  action  rather  than  of  the  re-awaken- 
ing of  forces  long  existent  but  slumbering.  It  was 
more  like  a  regeneration  than  a  revival  or  renewal. 
It  marks  the  genesis  of  modern  thought  as  distinct 
from  ancient  and  draws  once  for  all  that  broad  bound- 
arv  line  which  we  discern  between  the  old  and  the 
new.  As  far  as  it  was  an  awakening  at  all,  it  was  a 
modern  awakening  and  in  English  Prose  as  in  all 
things  else  that  are  English,  manifests  its  modern  im- 
press and  character. 

(b)  Nor  was  it  modern  only.  It  was  modern  En- 
glish. It  is  historically  true,  as  Mr.  Hallam  urges, 
that  this  awakening  was  European  or  Continental, 
affecting  more  or  less  deeply  every  important  nation 
of  modern  Europe;  still,  on  English  soil,  as  nowhere 
else,  did  these  new  qualities  appear,  and  in  England, 


REPRESENTA  TIVE     PERIODS.— FORMA  TIVE.      51 

as  nowhere  else,  did  they  bear  abundant  fruit.     Not 
only  did  all  that  transpired  in  Germany  and  on  the 
Continent  indirectly  affect  England  for  good,  but  it 
was  iu  the  England  of  that  time  that  these  new  im- 
pulses and  principles  centred  and  developed,  so  that 
it   became  for  all    modern    historians    the    one    best 
standpoint  from  which  to  study   what   Mr.    Hallam 
calls_«The  revival   of  literature  in   Europe  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries."     These  facts  bear 
directly  on  English  literature  and  on  the  prose  por- 
tion of  it.     Not  only  was  it  the  time  of  first  things 
in  English  poetry  as  in  the  epic  of  Spencer  and  the 
dramas  of  Shakespeare  and  his  contemporaries,  but  it 
marks  the  formation   of  English    Prose— so  that   in 
history,   theology,  philosophy,  romance,  and  general 
literature  the  first  productions  of  our  language  are 
here  found.     Even  in  the  line  of  English  Prose  Man- 
uals   for    educational    purposes,    this    fact   is    quite 
significant.     In    1551,    we    note    the   first    scientific 
treatise  in  England  on  the  Art  of  Discourse,  by  Wil- 
son.     In  1558,   by  the  same  writer,  the  first  treatise 
in  English  on  Logic.     In  1586,  Bullock  gives  the  first 
English  Grammar,  and  in  1589,  the  work  of  Aelfric  in 
the  First  Period  is  taken  up  in  better  form  by  Rider, 
who  prepares  a  Latin-English  Dictionary.     Thus  it 
appears  that  in  technical  work  as  in    a    wider  field 
of  literary  prose,  the  era  was  conspicuously  modern 
an'1.  English,  and,  thus,  a  mighty  agent  in  the  further- 
ing of  that  formative  work  which  is  now  manifestly 
in  progress.     The  eminently  English  character  of  this 
era  and  prose  will  be  further  noted  in  the  sequel. 

(3)  We    notice   another    helpful    agency   in,    The 
Attitude   of    Royalty   toward    the   Rising    English. 


52  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Between  the  early  dissensions  caused  by  the  bigotry 
of  Mary  and  the  later  troubles  arising  from  Civil 
War,  there  was  now  a  protracted  period  of  compara- 
tive peace  nearly  up  to  the  time  of  the  Protectorate. 
It  is  well  known  how  Spanish  Letters  suffered  by  the 
policy  of  the  Philips;  how  the  literary  progress  of  Italy 
was  retarded  by  civil  oppression  and  how  similar  re- 
sults followed  in  Germany  while  Adolphus  and  Wallen- 
stein  were  at  war.  English  Letters  now  suffered  but 
little  from  such  disturbances.  More  than  this,  there 
was  positive  and  practical  aid  to  the  aspiring  writers 
of  the  time.  Elizabeth,  James  I.,  and  Charles  I.,  did 
much,  directly  and  indirectly,  to  favor  this  formative 
work.  No  modern  literature  has  less  to  complain  of 
in  this  regard  than  the  English;  while  in  certain 
instances,  as  in  the  case  of  Elizabeth,  the  reigning 
sovereign  has  not  been  content  to  give  political 
protection  to  authorship,  but  has  personally  entered 
into  the  lists,  and  added  to  the  literary  product  of 
the  time. 

(4)  A  further  friendly  agency  to  the  prose  is  seen 
in  the  number  a«d  importance  of  the  English  Ver- 
sions of  Scripture  in  this  era.  Attention  has  been 
called  to  the  fact  that  this  was  also  a  marked  char- 
acteristic of  the  Middle-Prose  Period,  as  seen,  espec- 
ially,in  the  versions  of  Wyclif  and  Tyndale.  Equally 
striking  is  the  fact  that  this  first  period  of  Modern 
English  Prose  may  be  said  to' be  opened,  as  it  is 
throughout  characterized,  by  the  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  English.  The  Geneva  Bible  (1557 — 60), 
prepared  by  Protestant  refugees,  in  Geneva,  who  had 
fled  from  the  persecutions  of  Bloody  Mary,  was  the 
popular  English  Bible  for  half  a  century;  and  stands 


REPRESENTATIVE     PERIODS.— FORMATIVE.      53 

at  the  very  opening  of  this  era,  as  if  to  give  it 
character  and  historic  renown  as  the  first  prose  pro- 
duction. As  the  first  example  of  an  English  Version 
in  which  the  old  black  letter  gives  place  to  modern 
English  script  and  type,  it  fitly  marks  the  passing 
away  of  the  old,  and  the  formal  introduction  of  the 
new  English  Era  of  sacred  and  secular  prose.  In 
1568,  there  follow,  "  The  Bishops'  Bible,"  based  on 
Cranmer's,  re-issued  by  Parker  in  1572;  and,  as  most 
noteworthy  of  all,  King  James'  Version  of  1611,  th» 
Bible  of  England  and  America  down  to  the  date 
of  the  recent  revisions.  This  is  the  Bible  of  which 
ninety-five  per  cent  and  over  is  First-English;  and 
which,  as  far  as  the  vernacular  itself  is  concerned, 
still  remains  unequaled.  It  is  more  than  a  speci- 
men of  the  King's  English.  It  is  the  people's 
English.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  upon 
the  fact,  as  bearing  on  our  present  purpose,  that  the 
Bible  is  an  example,  on  its  secular  side,  of  English 
Prose,  and  enters  as  an  essential  element  into  this 
formative  work. 

Viewed  as  a  version,  or  translation,  purely  in  its 
human  aspect,  as  an  example  of  English  speech,  it 
undoubtedly  stands  all  through  English  literary 
history,  and,  more  especially,  in  this  era,  as  the  lead- 
ing agency  of  all  others.  It  did  then  for  English 
Prose  what  no  other  production  could  possibly  have 
done.  It  gave  that" true  direction  and  character  to 
English  Prose  style  which  is  now  an  elemental  part 
of  it.      English   Prose  is  Biblical. 

These  were  the  main  friendly  agencies  at  work  in 
this  first  epoch  of  English  Prose,  applying  more  or. 
less  fully  to  all  forms  of  literary  activity,  and,  yet, 


5J:  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

having  a  pertinent  bearing  on  the  formation  ot  prose. 
This  is  especially  true,  as  seen,  of  the  Scripture 
versions  as  rendered  into  prose;  and  largely  true  also 
of  that  great  awakening  ot  modern  English  life 
which  marked  the  era  throughout.  Let  us  note 
some  Adverse  Agencies. 

Adverse  Agencies. 

1.  The  Peculiar  Grammatical  Structure  of  the  En- 
glish of  this  period  which,  as  bad  as  it  was  in  poetry, 
was  more  harmful  in  prose. 

We  allude  here  to  the  fact  that  English  syntactical 
and  verbal  structure  was  greatly  unsettled,  and 
necessarily  so.  This  arose,  mainly,  from  the  results 
that  attended  the  breaking  up  of  the  old  inflectional 
system.  That  system  prevailed  in  First-English,  par- 
tially existed  in  Middle-English,  and  was  still  in 
process  of  change.  Mr.  Abbott,  in  his  Elizabethan 
Grammar,  has  given  the  full  history  and  explanation 
of  the  English  of  this  period.  Varieties  of  grammati- 
cal form  not  tolerated  now  were  then  admissible. 
Gross  violations  of  modern  grammar  were  then  in 
order  on  every  page.  Inflections  were  retained  or 
rejected  at  pleasure.  Words  in  double  senses  outside 
of  figurative  usage  were  freely  employed.  Literal 
and  metaphorical  uses  were  quite  the  reverse  of  what 
they  are  now.  In  a  word,  the  writer  took  his  own 
way,  despite  all  existing  rules.  There  was  no  law 
nor  standard.  Hence,  it  was  with  no  little  difficulty 
that  the  prose  authors  of  that  time  at  all  succeeded 
in  forming  an  English  Prose  and  serves  to  show 
conclusively  that  those  critics  are  in  error  who  insist 
that  we  have  in  this  first  era  a  fully  developed  and 


REPRESENTATIVE     PERIODS. — FORMATIVE.      53 

settled  English  Prose.  This  was  in  the  nature  of 
things  impossible.  The  shifting  grammar  of  the 
language  made  it  impossible.  The  authors  did  the 
best  they  could;  and  the  marvel  is,  that  with  such 
materials  in  hand  they  formed  so  goodly  a  structure. 
The  prose  was  in  formation,  just  as  the  language 
itself  was,  and  because  it  was.  The  one  could  not 
advance  toward  fixed  establishment  more  rapidly 
than  the  other.  In  poetry  it  was  somewhat  different 
in  that  a  larger  freedom  in  the  choice  and  use  of 
grammatical  forms  was  and  is  permissible.  The 
quaint  phrase  was  often  the  preferable  one. 

2.  The  rise  of  Euphuism,  and,  The  Metaphysical 
School  of  Prose.  In  a  word,  the  rise  of  a  conceited 
style. 

This  was  not  germane  to  England  or  English 
writers,  but  came  from  without.  English  Prose  is  at 
fault  in  that  it  so  readily  received  and  applied  it. 
While  it  flourished,  it  did  no  little  harm  in  the  forma- 
tive work  going  on.  We  shall  have  occasion  in  the 
sequel  to  trace  the  presence  and  influence  of  this 
school  of  conceit,  whose  disciples  Avrote  profoundly 
of  the  simplest  thing,  or  atoned  for  absence  of  ideas 
by  a  wild  profusion  of  quaint  and  overdrawn  phrases. 
In  no  more  unfortunate  time  could  such  a  style  have 
entered  English  Letters.  It  was  untimely,  just  be- 
cause our  prose  was  taking  shape  and  was  keenly 
sensitive  to  every  surrounding  influence.  At  such  a 
crisis,  it  was  even  more  inclined  to  take  on  the  evil 
than  the  good.  Euphuism  no  sooner  came  from  the 
Continent  to  England,  than  Sydney,  and  other  prose 
writers,  became  a  prey  to  it;  and  from  that  day  to 
this  it  has  had  more  or  less  sway  among  us.     The 


56  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Metaphysical  School  of  Donne,  and  Cowley,  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  I.,  was  the  first  to  perpetuate  it,  even 
in  grosser  form,  to  later  eras.  They  had  all  the 
faults  of  Lyly  as  a  writer,  without  his  redeeming 
features. 

3.  The  Bevival  of  the  Classical  Languages  and 
Literature. 

This  was,  in  all  respects,  the  most  prominent,  con- 
stant and  formidable  obstacle  in  the  formation  of  a 
native  English  Prose.  We  are  now  speaking  of  this 
classical  awakening  simply  in  the  light  of  its  un- 
friendly relation  to  the  English;  it  being  weli  known 
to  every  student  of  history  that  the  blessings  of  that 
general  revival  of  the  old  learning  were  invaluable. 
There  were  three  distinct  forms  of  foreign  influ- 
ence which  at  the  time  worked  against  our  English 
Prose  as  English, — the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Italian. 
We  have  noted  how,  in  the  First-English  Period, 
most  of  the  English  writers  of  prose  wrote  in  Latin. 
We  have  seen  that  in  the  Middle  Period,  up  to 
the  time  of  Caxton,  Latin  still  had  a  large  place 
in  the  prose  of  Englishmen.  -In  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, also,  new  forces  were  at  work  in  Europe,  in 
the  interests  of  old  Roman  Letters.  The  revival  was 
general  and  pervasive,  and  once  again  made  it- 
self felt  in  special  power  on  English  soil.  It  is  now 
that  the  classical  professorships  at  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge  were  established  on  a  sure  foundation,  while 
it  was  regarded  as  in  place  for  all  those  who  were 
counted  among  the  scholars  of  the  land,  to  make 
themselves  conversant  with  the  old  learning  now 
made  new. 

Precisely  so  as  to  Greek.    After  the  capture  of  Con- 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS. — FORMATIVE.       57 

stantinople   in  1453,  this  language  became  the  free 
property  of  scholars  all  over  Europe,  and  of  course, 
moved  steadily  northward  and  westward  across  the 
English  Channel.     The  enthusiasm  over  the  Greek  at 
the  great  educational  centres  of  England,  was  even 
greater  than  over  the  Latin.     It  spread  far  and  wide. 
It  permeated  all  quarters,  so  that  under  such  instruc- 
tors as  Erasmus  and  Cheke,  thousands  of  ambitious 
students  were  introduced  into  the  mysteries  of  Attic 
lore.     It  was  a  kind  of  Athenian  contagion,  a  "new 
thing."     So,    as    to    Italian.     This    was    the    special 
period    of  Italian  influence  on  English;    the  age  of 
Ariosto  and  Tasso,  and  the  prose  writers  beginning  in 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  pervading  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth.     From  this  brief  survey  it  may  readily  be 
seen  that  if,  in  one  respect,  the  drift  of  the  age  was 
modern  and  English,  in  another,  it  was  backward  and 
classical.     Books  in  Latin,  and,  more  especially,  trans- 
lations in  Latin  and  Greek,  now  abounded.     Fox  and 
Jewel,  Parker  and  North,  and  hosts  of  others,  resorted 
in  preference  to  the  older  tongues.     The  Queen,  her- 
self, made  the  Italian  and  Greek  a  part  of  her  daily 
task-work  under  the  guidance  of  Ascham  and  others. 
English  Reformers  wrote  and  preached  and  wrangled 
in    Latin.     More    and    Browne,    Milton   and   Bacon 
wrote   in   Latin.     Nothing  will   more  clearly  reveal 
the  powerful  sway  which  the  Latin  then  had  than  the 
language  which  Bacon  himself  uses.     Of  his  Essay's 
he  says:  "I  do  conceive  that  the  Latin  volume  of 
them,  being  in  the  universal  language,  may  last  as 
long  as  books  last."     Again  he  says:  "  My  labors  are 
now  most  set  to  have  those  works  which  I  have  form- 
erly published  (in  English)  well  translated  into  Latin. 


58  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

For  these  modem  languages  will,  at  one  time  or 
another,  play  the  bankrupt  with  books;  and  since  I 
have  lost  ranch  time  with  this  age,  I  would  be  glad 
to  recover  it  with  posterity."  Such  language  was 
somewhat  natural,  perhaps,  in  a  man  whose  main 
work  was  philosophical  and  who  wrote  with  one  eye 
alwavs  on  Aristotle  and  the  Latin  Schoolmen:  but  it 
was  not  confined  to  Bacon.  It  was  in  the  air  and 
temper  of  the  time  as  the  result  of  the  classical 
renaissance,  and  is  still  another  proof  that  whatever 
the  English  Prose  of  the  time  was,  it  could  be  forma- 
tive only,  and  not  final.  The  foreign  influences  from 
all  quarters  of  Europe  were  too  many  and  potent  to 
allow  it  to  become  stable,  or  to  do  anything  more 
than  successfully  to  offer  resistance,  or  make  judicious 
compromise.  In  fine,  there  was  a  strong  reactionary 
tendency  to  other  forms  than  English.  Just  as  in 
the  Civil  Wars  of  Middle-English,  the  language  con- 
tinually reverted  to  old  dialectic  usage,  so  now,  under 
a  pressure  from  abroad,  native  forms  and  forces  re- 
verted of  necessity  to  the  older  life  of  mediseval  and 
ancient  Europe.  The  era  was  more  than  critical  for 
English  Prose  and  Poetry  and  for  the  English  Speech 
itself. 

If  we  ask  how  and  why  the  influence  was  checked 
and  caused  to  recede,  we  come  in  contact,  at  once, 
with  the  providential  element  in  human  history — 
especially  manifest  in  English  History.  It  was  thus 
that  the  Koman  armies  strangely  left  Britain  when 
they  did,  in  425  a.  d.  It  was  thus  that  Romish 
Missionaries  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries  in 
England  were  thwarted  in  reducing  the  country  to 
Romish  doctrine  and  rule.     It  was  thus  that  in  the 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— FORMATIVE.      59 

French  and  English  Wars,  England  somehow  tri- 
umphed; and  so  it  was,  that  just  as  the  old  heathen 
influence  from  Latium,  Greece  and  Italy,  poured  in 
upon  England  as  a  flood,  there  was  another  flood  of 
deeper  depth  and  mightier  momentum,  in  the  form 
of  the  Protestant  awakening;  so  that  the  English 
Church  and  the  English  Tongue  were  saved  together 
as  English. 

(B.)    Characteristics  of  Formative  English  Prose. 

1.  Increasing  Grammatical  Regularity. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  variable,  unsettled 
structure  of  the  grammar  of  this  period,  due  to  the 
surviving  struggle  between  inflected  and  uninfiected 
English.  Hence,  the  diction  and  rhetorical  character 
of  the  authorship  were  ever  changing,  but  also,  ever 
tending  to  permanence.  The  conflict  now,  it  is  to  be 
noted,  was  not  between  foreign  forms  and  native,  but 
in  the  bosom  of  the  home-speech  itself  between  one 
form  of  English  and  another.  There  was  danger  in 
all  this,  and,  yet  it  was  the  sign  of  life  and  progress; 
the  same  inward  principle  of  life  that  was  at  work  in 
First-English  Prose  at  the  hands  of  Alfred,  and  in 
Middle-English  under  Wyclif  and  Ascham.  Here  it 
is  once  again  manifest,  that  English  Prose  was  not 
yet  fully  settled,  but  in  process  of  settlement.  Even 
such  cautious  writers  as  Tyler,  and  Morley,  speak  of 
"  formed"  English  Prose  even  before  this  era.  It  was 
formative  only,  but  as  such,  more  and  more  inclined 
to  take  an  abiding  cast  and  character.  Unsettled,  in 
a  sense,  as  the  best  examples  of  it  are,  there  was  still 
a  molding  work  done  at  that  time  which  could   have 


GO  ENGLISH   PKOSE. 

been  done  neither  before  nor  after,  and  which  was 
absolutely  essential  to  the  existence  of  this  form  of 
literature. 

2.  An  Increasing  Vocabulary . 

From    what   has   been   said  relative  to   the    great 
mental   and   moral  awakening  of  this  period,  it  can 
readily  be  inferred  that   words    were    pouring   into 
English   from  all  quarters.     This   was  not  confined, 
however,    to    the    incoming  of  foreign    terms.     The 
native  speech  was  broadening  under  the  influence  of 
the  new   impulses.     Mixed   English    was   becoming- 
more   and    more    a    pure   English,     while    even    for- 
eign   words    themselves    were    received    and    com- 
pacted into  the  body  of  the  home  language.     Those 
prose  authors   who  felt  obliged,  for  prudential  rea- 
sons,  to   continue   the   use   of  the   classical   Latin, 
did  so  with  ever  renewed  distrust;  until  at  length, 
they  yielded   with   the  poets  to  the  resistless  pres- 
sure  of  native  influences.     Even    at   this    early    pe- 
riod   there   were    forty-five    thousand    words  in   our 
vocabulary,  nearly  one  half  of  the  present  number 
— while    the   manner    in    which  the    Bible  Versions 
controlled  common  speech  made  it  more  and  more 
native  in  character. 

3.  Its  English  Spirit. 

Foreign  Influence  had  now  reached  its  height  and 
was  declining,  while  the  home  influences  were  coming 
into  ever  wider  scope.  Especially  true  in  poetry,  this 
characteristic  marks,  also,  the  prose.  Though  Bacon 
wrote  his  philosophy  in  Latin,  still,  that  part  of  his 
prose  which   was   designed  to  be  practical,  "  to  come 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— FORMATIVE.       61 

home  to  men's  business  and  bosoms,"  was  wisely- 
written  in  the  mother  tongue.  Though  the  reign  of 
James  I.  was  somewhat  under  the  influence  of  Spanish 
Letters  and  though  canons  of  French  taste  revived 
toward  the  time  of  Cromwell,  still,  this  English  spirit 
was  dominant  over  all  and  ever  on  the  increase. 
The  foolish  conceits  of  Lyly  and  his  followers  affected 
the  surface  more  than  the  centre  of  authorship. 
Deep  down  in  the  inner  life  of  the  best  literature  the 
servitude  either  to  ancient  or  modern  Europe  was 
solemnly  forsworn  and  a  new  departure  at  once  taken 
into  the  liberty  of  the  home-speech.  The  age 
was  eminently  English,  because  it  was  free  from  all 
the  trammels  which  had  hitherto  bound  it.  Men 
were  doing  their  own  thinking  in  their  own  way,  and 
this  newly  acquired  intellectual  liberty  meant  an  ever 
wider  removal  from  classical  terms,  and  an  ever 
firmer  committal  to  the  modern  and  the  advancing. 
Modern  progress  meant  English  progress  more  than 
anything  else  and  the  prose  authors  of  the  time  em- 
bodied and  transmitted  it.  If  the  queen  could  boast 
of  her  proficiency  in  the  Greek  and  Italian,  she  could 
also  boast  that  she  employed  a  preceptor,  in  the 
person  of  Ascham,  to  compose  his  Toxophilus  in  the 
special  interests  of  his  native  speech.  Whatever  the 
prose  period  was  or  was  not,  it  was  one  of  mental 
freedom  in  the  interests  of  the  home-tongue. 

4.  Its   Versatility. 

This  arose  largely  from  the  rich  infusion  of  new 
ideas  that  then  took  place  and  from  the  consequent 
stimulus  of  the  English  mind.  Not  only  in  poetry, 
but,  in  prose, — theological,  philosophical,  to  historical 


62  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

and  general — this  variety  is  manifest.  It  reminds 
one,  as  he  enters  it,  of  a  rich  tropical  clime  where  nature 
displays  herself  in  a  profusion  almost  bewildering.  So 
rich  and  versatile  was  the  literary  product  that  the  so- 
called  second  rate  authors  might  with  justice  be 
cited  as  examples  of  good  literary  work,  while  the 
names  of  first  excellence  were  so  supreme  as  still  to 
hold  in  English  Letters  the  place  that  was  then  as- 
signed them. 

5.  Human  or  Catholic. 

Never  were  what  Whipple  would  call  "  Literature 
and  Life,"  so  closelv  related  as  now.  The  man  was 
in  the  author  and  his  book.  Men  discussed  what 
we  term  living  issues,  and  in  a  living  manner.  It 
is  this  characteristic  of  the  prose  of  this  age  that 
Mr.  Hallam  must  have  had  in  mind  when  he  says: 
"  There  was  never  a  generation  in  England  which  for 
worldly  prudence  and  wise  observation  of  mankind 
stood  higher  than  the  Elizabethan."  It  was  an  age 
in  which  the  principles  of  human  nature  in  general, 
as  well  as  the  English  human  nature  in  particular, 
Avere  deeply  studied  and  fully  expressed. 

Never  have  writers  understood  each  other  and  the 
world  better.  They  seem  to  have  had  an  instinctive 
as  well  as  a  studied  knowledge  of  their  fellows,  and 
could  portray  them  to  themselves.  In  this  particular, 
Shakespeare  stood  first;  but  he  had  many  able  disci- 
ples in  poetry  and  prose.  It  was  natural  that  the 
great  authors  of  this  period,  especially  in  the  days  of 
Elizabeth,  should  thus  become  the  skillful  interpre- 
ters of  men  to  men.  The  literature  could  not  but  be 
catholic  and  spacious,  in   an  age  when  church  and 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— FORMATIVE.      63 

state  were  alive  with  good  impulses  and  when  the 
special  mark  of  the  period  was  that  the  ancient  was 
giving  way  to  the  modern,  monasteries  to  universi- 
ties, priestly  bigotry  to  Protestantism,  and  narrow- 
ness to  breadth  of  idea  and  spirit. 

English  Prose  has  many  excellences  now  which  ifc 
had  not  then;  but  it  has  never  had  a  larger  degree  of 
general  robustness  and  vigor  than  then  it  had.     It 
was  heroic,  chivalric,  and  wide  embracing, — the  age 
of  man  and  of  truth. 

6.  Protestant  and  Ethical. 

The  Literature  of  the  time  was  under  the  influence 
of  the  English  Reformation  and  that  of  the  English 
Bible  and  Christian  Reformers.  As  grand  and  general 
as  the  intellectual  progress  of  the  time  was,  there 
was  a  moral  movement  deeper  and  wider.  The 
sceptical  Buckle,  in  his  account  of  European  Civil' 
ization,  is  scarcely  competent,  as  a  rationalist,  to  give 
a  true  history  of  this  era,  on  its  religious  side.  It  is 
a  spectacle  as  pitiable  as  it  is  fruitless,  to  note  the 
attempt  on  the  part  of  this  adroit  historian  to  give 
us  the  explanation  of  this  era  apart  from  this  ethical 
feature  as  most  prominent.  Gibbon,  in  his  record  of 
reasons  for  the  early  establishment  of  Christianity  in 
the  Roman  Empire,  is  far  more  political  and  judicious 
in  that,  with  natural  and  social  causes,  he  is  free  to 
admit  the  presence  of  others.  There  is  no  part  of  the 
racy  criticism  of  our  literature  by  Mr.  Taine  more 
suggestive  than  where  he  is  brought  face  to  face  with 
this  special  aspect  of  British  life.  Admitting  that  the 
Reformation  entered  England  "by  a  side  door,"  he 
grants  that  it  entered  and  speedily  induced  among 


64  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

all  the  people  that  "  crisis  of  conscience  which  is 
natural  to  the  race."  He  calls  the  Bible  "  England's 
book,"  and  marvels  at  that  persistency  which  in  spite 
of  protestation  caused  it  to  be  read  and  heard. 
"Never,"  he  adds," has  a  people  been  so  deeply  im- 
bued by  a,  foreign  book,  or  let  it  penetrate  so  far  into 
its  manners  and  writings,  its  imagination  and  its 
language."  Such  are  the  concessions  that  must  be 
made  even  by  French  and  prejudiced  critics.  The 
period  was  Protestant  and  moral  as  compared  with 
the  preceding,  or  as  compared  with  contemporary 
periods  across  the  Channel.  The  age  was  golden  in 
this  respect  as  much  as  in  any  other.  It  did  more 
for  our  literary  future  in  this  regard  than  in  any  other, 
and  served  to  mark,  for  all  time,  the  prose  of  England 
as  elevated  and  Christian. 

At  the  close  of  this  era  in  the  days  of  Cromwell, 
an  era  especially  of  prose,  a  peculiar  phase  of  this 
ethical  literary  life  comes  into  prominence.  We  call 
it  Puritan,  oftener  Puritanic,  and  in  some  respects,  we 
admit  it  marked  a  decline  from  the  stalwart  morality 
of  earlier  times.  Still,  it  was  a  distinctively  moral  in- 
fluence, somewhat  narrower  and  less  attractive  than 
that  of  Sydney's  day,  and,  yet,  an  earnest  protest 
against  the  low  and  base.  Certainly,  no  sounder 
form  of  English  Prose  exists  in  any  period  than  we 
find  in  the  writings  of  Walton,  of  Fuller,  and  Jeremy 
Taylor. 

If  Protestantism   overreached   itself  in    some   of 
these   Puritan   Prosers,  and  degenei'ated,  often,  into 
bigotry,  the  balance  was  more  than  struck  by  their 
living  earnestness  on  the  side  of  truth  and  on  behalf 
of  English   morals.     The   Puritans   have  had   their 


REPRESEMTA  TIVE     PERIODS. — FORMA  TIVE.      65 

share  of  sneer  and  satire  at  the  hands  of  Macaulay 
and  others.  They  had,  however,  a  mission  and  ful- 
filled it.  Open  to  criticism  at  many  points,  suffice 
it  to  say  that  they  could  be  ill  spared  from  English 
History  or  English  Letters  and  in  the  time  of  which 
we  speak  did  no  inferior  work  in  the  line  of  a  solid, 
serious,  ethical,  English  Prose.  As  we  close  the 
survey  of  this  first  period,  it  is  quite  noticeable  that, 
although  at  the  opening  of  it,  in  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, English  Prose  was  inferior  in  quality  and  meas- 
ure to  poetry, — at  the  close  of  the  era,  as  we  near  the 
Protectorate,  these  relations  were  reversed,  so  that 
prose  has  marked  an  advance  and  we  find  ourselves 
somewhat  further  on  in  its  historic  development. 
Still,  from  beginning  to  end,  the  prose  was  substan- 
tially one.  Hooker  at  the  opening,  and  Milton,  at 
the  ciose,  had  much  in  common  both  as  to  merit  and 
demerit.  However  different  the  varied  features  of 
the  period  are,  they  are  alike  in  this — that  they  were 
formative  and  Elizabethan.  As  Mr.  Brooke  correctly 
remarks  in  speaking  of  the  prose  authors  of  the 
Cromwellian  era  itself,  "  The  style  of  nearly  all  these 
writers  links  them  to  the  age  of  Elizabeth.  The 
prose  of  men  like  Brown  and  Burton  and  Fuller,  is 
not  as  poetic  as  that  of  the  Elizabethan  writers,  but 
it  is  just  as  fanciful."  He  speaks  of  the  prose  of  Tay- 
lor and  Milton  having  all  the  faults  common  to  the 
days  of  Hooker  and  Bacon.  In  fine,  the  century  was 
one  of  prose  in  process  of  settlement,  and  all  minor 
differences  are  lost  in  the  great  fact  that  we  find  in 
1050,  as  the  period  closes,  English  Prose  was  mainly 
what  it  was  as  the  era  opened  in  1560 — a  prose  still 
in  formation,  with  a  somewhat  stronger  principle  of 


C6  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

adjustment  and  unity  present  in  it,  and  an  ever  clearer 
prospect  of  final  fixedness.  That  era,  however,  is 
suddenly  delayed  for  a  half  century  of  political  and 
social  events,  and  ere  we  come  to  settled  prose,  we 
.must  note  an  epoch  of  transition. 


X 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  TRANSITION    PERIOD— 1650-1700. 

This  period  embraces  nearly  a  half  century — the 
reigns  of  Charles  II.,  James  II.,  William  and  Mary; 
and  as  compared  with  the  period  preceding,  is  one 
of  decline,  as  it  is,  also,  far  inferior  to  the  era  imme- 
diately following. 

It  will  be  necessary,  at  the  outset,  to  note  the 
nature  of  these  Transitions,  and  the  application  of 
the  term  to  the  period  now  before  us. 

Transitions. 

These  are  historical  and  literary  and  appear  in  the 
development  of  every  nation's  mental  life.  It  is 
these  changes  to  which  Mr.  Iiallam  refers  in  speak- 
ing of  the  general  history  of  the  European  mind 
— its  best  and  worst  epochs.  He  says,  "There  is, 
in  fact,  no  security,  as  far  as  the  past  history  of 
mankind  assures  us,  that  any  nation  will  be  uni- 
formly progressive  in  science,  art,  and  letters,  nor  do 
1  perceive,  whatever  may  be  the  current  language, 
that  we  can  expect  this  with  much  greater  confi- 
dence of  the  whole  civilized  world."  Such  a  remark 
is  made  from  no  pessimistic  view  of  the  defeat  of 
truth  in  the  earth,  or  the  relation  of  Providence  to 


6S  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

human  progress,  but  rather  from  the  undeniable 
lesson  of  the  world's  experience  that  all  that  is 
human  is  subject  to  change.  It  is  precisely  what 
Disraeli  would  call  the  principle  of  "  crises  and  re- 
actions," as  founded  in  nature  and  ratified  in  history. 
In  no  department  of  mental  inquiry  and  study  is 
this  principle  more  patent  and  influential  than  in 
literature.  No  important  literature  of  ancient  or 
modern  times,  has  failed  to  exhibit  it.  If  Italy  had 
her  golden  age  of  Tasso  and  Ariosto,  she  had,  as  well, 
the  reactionary  age  of  Marini,  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  age  of  Cervantes,  in  Spain,  was  closely 
followed  by  that  of  Gongora;  while  the  classical  eras, 
both  of  France  and  Germany,  were  alike  preceded 
and  followed  by  epochs  of  mental  weakness  or  lit- 
erary indifference.  In  the  history  of  English  Let- 
ters, both  in  prose  and  poetry,  this  law  of  action  and 
reaction  is  manifest.  In  the  First-English  Period,  it 
is  seen  in  connection  with  Danish  and  Norman 
invasions;  in  the  Middle-Period,  at  the  time  of  the 
English  and  French  Wars;  and  in  the  Modern  era, 
at  successive  epochs,  such  as  the  Civil  Wars  and 
Revolution  in  the  age  now  before  us. 

In  fact  the  history  of  a  literature,  as  of  Pmglish, 
might  be  divided  itito  the  two  periods  of  permanence 
and  of  transition,  acting  upon  each  other  and  interact- 
ing. The  former  are  so  fixed  and  their  character  so 
revealed  that  but  little  difficulty  is  found  in  correctly 
interpreting  them.  The  latter  are  more  perplexing  to 
the  literary  student  and,  yet,  full  of  interest  and 
most  important  in  relation  to  what  precedes  and  fol- 
lows. These  transitional  epochs  would  seem  to  have 
a  life  and  history  of  their  ow  ,  and  give  origin  to 


REPRESENTA  TfVE    PERIODS.—  TRANSITIONAL.      61) 

many  questions  of  peculiar  interest.  Why  in  En- 
glish Letters  they  occur  just  when  they  do;  why  they 
are  long  or  short  in  duration;  why  they  appear 
at  somewhat  regular  intervals  along  the  development 
of  the  literature,  and  why  they  should  be  now  from 
the  better  to  the  worse  and,  now,  the  opposite — are 
queries  which  belong  to  the  philosophy  of  literary  his- 
tory, and  are  at  this  moment  the  subject  of  careful 
study  on  the  part  of  the  best  English  Critics.  Presi- 
dent Bascom,  in  his  discussion  of  English  Literature, 
speaks  of  two  of  these  transition  periods — the  one 
being  that  era  now  in  question  and  the  other,  the 
second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  What  he 
calls  "The  Retrogressive  Period,"  from  the  opening 
of  the  fifteenth  century  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth, 
might  also  be  called  by  this  name.  Mr.  Taine,  in  his 
English  Literature,  less  formally,  but  with  equal  cer- 
tainty, marks  the  appearance  and  disappearance  of 
these  eras  in  our  prose  and  poetry. 

Appropriateness  of  the  Term  to  this  Era. 

This  is  seen  from  its  Unsettled  Character.  The 
Revolution  of  1640  had  closed  with  ths  execution  of 
Charles  I.  The  stormy  days  of  Cromwell  then  fol- 
lowed. After  that,  in  the  era  now  before  us,  there 
came  the  civil  disorders  under  the  second  Charles, 
and  James  II.,  ending,  in  the  Revolution  of  1688, 
in  the  reign  of  William.  For  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury, the  nation  was  distracted.  The  period  was 
purely  revolutionary,  either  by  the  presence  of  home 
or  foreign  strife.  Even  when,  for  a  time,  there 
seemed  to  he  peace  and  settled  order,  the  quiet  was 
purely  external    and  there   was  constant  danger  of 


70  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

outbreak.  It  was  an  age  of  violent  extremes  in 
thought  and  life.  In  the  church,  the  struggle  was 
between  Puritan  and  Prelate,  Protestant  and  Papist, 
Presbyterian  and  Independent.  In  the  state,  the 
Royalists  and  Roundheads  opposed  each  other.  In 
society,  morality  was  confronted  with  open  profligacy ; 
while,  in  literature,  ability  and  character  struggled 
to  hold  their  own  against  mediocrity  and  the  lower 
aesthetic  tastes  of  the  time.  At  no  era  in  English 
history  can  such  clashing  interests  be  found.  Level- 
ers  and  Seekers,  Rationalists  and  Free  Thinkers,  Fifth 
Monarchy  Men  and  Fanatics,  were  all  active  for 
precedence. 

It  is  not  strange  that  Dryden,  the  central  literary 
figure  of  the  time,  especially  in  poetry,  exclaims  with 
feeling: 

"  Must  England  still  the  scene  of  changes  be, 
Tost  and  tempestuous,  like  an  ambient  sea?  " 

There  was  no  moderation  in  the  age.  The  golden 
mean  was  never  reached  by  any  sect  in  church  or 
state.  Monarchy  need  not  be  despotic,  but  the 
Stuarts  became  so.  Prelacy  may  exist  without  inter- 
fering with  the  subjects'  freedom  and  Puritanism  can 
be  held  without  offending  the  world  by  its  morose- 
ness,  but  it  was  not  thus.  Bad  men  were  especially 
bad  and  good  men  were  good  to  a  fault,  in  the  mode 
of  the  expression  of  their  goodness.  There  was  no 
unity.  All  was  divergent  and  one-sided,  unnatural  and 
transitional.  What  the  age  was  in  church  and  state, 
and  society,  it  was  in  literature-^and  it  was  in  Prose 
Literature — an  age  of  extremes.  If  we  find  keen  and 
telling  satire  against  the  vice  of  the  age,  we  also  find, 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS. —  TRANSITIONAL.  71 

and  even  from  the  same  pen,  the  most  abject  adula- 
tion of  the  great.  High  moral  teachings  strange- 
ly mingle  with  debasing  maxims,  while  throughout 
the  era,  the  shocking  absence  of  any  high  order  of 
English  Prose  as  continuing  the  formative  prose  of 
the  earlier  period  makes  it  manifest  that  such  litera- 
ture had  for  some  reason  come  to  a  sudden  cessation. 
The  literary  as  well  as  the  social  continuity  was 
broken  and,  for  a  time,  the  best  minds  of  the  age 
must  either  look  back  to  the  days  of  Milton,  or  on- 
ward to  those  of  Addison,  to  be  cheered  in  their 
work  as  prose  authors. 

(A.)  Characteristics  of  the  Prose  of  this  Period. 

1.  Franco-English,  or  Anglo-  Gallic. 
The  satirical  Butler,  who  was  especially  sensitive 
as  to  this  feature  of  English  in  his  time,  speaks  of 
England    as    "  going    to    school    to    France."     The 
expression    may    be  taken    as  literally   true.     There 
were  special  reasons  why  Gallic  influence  was  pecu- 
liarly strong  at  this  epoch.     It  was  the  golden  age  of 
French    Literature    and    an   inferior  age  of  English 
Literature.     It  was  but  comparatively  a    short  time 
before  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  that  the  French 
Academy  was  established  (1636)  under  the  sagacious 
policy  of  Richelieu,  as  the  centre  of  French  Culture, 
and  in  the  middle  year  of  this  era  it  was  in  its  glory. 
It  was  but  natural  that  the  influence  of  the  French 
School  at  such  a  time  was  far-reaching  and  pervaded 
England.     To  this  it  must  be  added,  that  the  exilo 
kino-  going  to  France,  attracted  numbers  with  him, 
and  he  and  they  veritably  "  went  to  school  to  Franco." 
On  their  return  to  England,  there  began  a  kind  of 


72  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Franco-English  dynasty  and  English  Literature  re- 
ceived then  and  there  a  Gallic  impress  from  which  it 
will  never  be  entirely  free.  Some  benefit  resulted, 
indeed,  but  the  issue  was  mainly  evil,  as  to  our  prose 
and  poetry.  The  special  misfortune  lay  in  the  fact 
that,  whatever  may  have  been  the  apparent  relation 
of  the  two  countries  and  literatures,  they  were  at 
heart  utterly  at  variance.  There  are  no  two  national 
characters  more  unlike  than  the  English  and  the 
Gallic.  They  are  not  necessarily  hostile,  as  the 
German  and  the  Gallic  are,  but  they  are  uncongenial. 
Twas  so  in  the  eleventh  century  (1066),  when  a  kind 
of  coalition  was  effected  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
Even  Dryden,  with  all  his  classic  and  continental 
tendencies,  saw  this  and  deplored  it.  He  entreats 
his  fellow  authors  to  be  natural,  as  Englishmen. 

"  Let  us  our  native  character  maintain. 
Tis  of  our  growth  to  be  sincerely  plain." 

The  advice  was  ingenuous  but  of  no  avail,  while 
Dryden  himself  sinned  against  his  own  theory.  No- 
thing could  have  been  more  untimely  and  harmful  as 
to  its  effect  on  English  Prose  than  such  an  influence 
in  such  an  era.  Our  prose  was  in  process  of  forma- 
tion. From  the  time  of  Ascham  to  that  of  Milton 
and  Bunyan,  this  formative  work  had  not  been  materi- 
ally checked.  It  was  continuous  and  promising 
and  just  about  to  take  shape  permanently  not  only  as 
prose,  but  as  English  Prose.  Foreign  French  influ- 
ence now  enters,  not  only  to  delay,  but  to  direct  and 
modify  the  plastic  work — to  turn  the  course  of 
prose  development  into  a  new  channel — to  make  it  a 
mixed  English  Prose.     Elizabethan  prose  had  many 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS. — TRANSITIONAL.   73 

defects  incident  to  its  character  as  formative,  but 
with  all  its  faults  it  was  superior  to  that  which  fol- 
lowed. Instead  of  the  natural,  fresh  expression  of 
the  earlier  English,  there  appears  the  formal,  courtly 
style  of  the  foreign  school,  and  all  is  changed  for  the 
worse.  Rarely,  if  ever,  has  our  literature  been  so 
sadly  affected  by  outside  agency.  Under  other  social 
and  historical  conditions,  the  influence  might  have 
been  overruled  and  salutary.  As  it  was,  it  was 
baneful. 

In  Chaucer's  time,  French  influence  was  strong. 
In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  Italian  influence  was 
strong  as  was  that  of  Germany  later  in  our  history. 
All  these  influences,  however,  were  under  the  control 
of  the  home  literature  at  the  time  and  were  helpful, 
more  than  harmful.  In  the  days  of  the  later  Stuarts, 
it  was  partly  the  shame  and  mainly  the  misfortune 
of  England,  that  it  was  a  dependency  of  France  and 
its  authors  were  the  vassels  of  Gallic  leaders.  This 
explains  another  feature  of  the  prose  patent  to  every 
careful  reader. 

2.    The  Inferiority  of  the  Diction. 

It  was  what  Swift  aptly  terms  "  a  jargon."  Double 
and  doubtful  senses  were  purposely  given  to  words; 
partly,  as  an  exercise  in  frivolous  wit,  and  partly,  as 
the  natural  result  of  the  inferior  ability  behind  the 
language.  Brevity  of  statement  was  carried  to  such 
extreme  as  to  defeat  its  own  end  and  became  the 
veriest  buffoonery  and  burlesque.  In  fine,  it  was  a 
form  of  that  old  Euphuism  which  flourished  in  the 
first  period,  but  which,  coming  to  England  through 
France,  had  taken  on  new  phases  even  more  revolting 


74  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

to  good  taste  and  in  which  Lyly  and  Donne  were 
entirely  outdone.  The  diction  was  mainly  in  the  line 
of  verbal  device  or  display — the  result  both  of  mental 
and  moral  perverseness — and  well  adapted  to  thwart, 
for  the  time  being,  any  advance  in  native  prose. 
Just  to  the  degree  in  which  it  was  bombastic  and 
pedantic,  it  was  un-English,  and  marked  an  ever 
wider  departure  from  earlier  models.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  vocabulary  of  our  prose  was  largely 
increased  in  this  half  century  of  transition ;  but  there 
are  some  things  better  for  a  literature  than  mere  in- 
crement of  words.  The  verbal  gain  was  not  all  the 
gain,  since  it  involved  the  addition  of  elements  which 
have  worked  only  harm  in  the  province  of  English 
Prose. 

All  this,  in  diction,  was  fully  in  keeping  with  the 
trivial  temper  of  the  time.  The  age  was  not  serious. 
Why  should  the  authors  be  ?  The  violent  reaction 
from  Puritan  precision  had  set  in,  intensified  and  pro- 
longed by  influences  from  the  Continent;  king  and 
courtiers  were  alike  corrupt,  and  Satan  was  abroad, 
in  poetry.  Cowley  and  Waller  were  absorbed  in 
writing  effeminate  verses  for  characterless  ladies.  In 
the  drama  especially,  Wycherley  is  preferred  to  neg- 
lected plays  of  Shakespeare,  while  in  the  sphere  of 
solid  prose  anything  is  admissible,  so  it  reminds  not 
of  duty  and  moral  responsibility.  The  phraseology 
of  the  time  expressed  the  superficial  character  of 
the  time.  Most  of  those  who  wrote  did  what  they 
did  as  the  exponents  of  the  hour;  and  it  is  not 
strange  that  it  was  in  such  times  as  these  that 
John  Milton  ended  his  days  in  disappointment  and 
neglect,  while  third  and  fourth  rate  versifiers  and 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS.  — TRANSITIONAL.    75 

prosers  were  in  honor  at  court  and  among  the  peo- 
ple. He  had  fallen  on  "evil  days  and  evil  times." 
So  had  English  Letters. 

(3.)    Helpful  Agencies  at  this  Era. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  that  even  in  this  period 
of  transition  and  general  decline,  there  were  no  forces 
at  work  on  behalf  of  good  literature  and  the  develop- 
ment of  a  clear  and  substantial  prose.  One  or  two  of 
these  are  conspicuous  in  their  influence. 

2.  Popular  Agitation  of  Thought  and  Life. 

This  has  been  noted  in  speaking  of  the  revolution- 
ary character  of  the  time  and  on  the  side  of  its 
danger  and  disadvantages.  It  has  another  side, 
equally  important.  Agitation  in  itself  is  healthful 
and  stimulative.  When  exercised  with  regard  to 
proper  objects  and  confined  within  reasonable  limits, 
and  thus,  under  control,  it  has  always  tended  to 
strengthen,  rather  than  to  weaken.  Even  when 
but  partially  fulfilling  these  conditions,  it  is  pro- 
ductive of  good  in  so  far  as  it  does  fulfill  them  and 
serves  to  increase  the  evil  resulting  from  lawless 
insurrections. 

It  is  quite  noticeable  here,  that  just  as  the  Forma- 
tive Period  of  our  Prose  closed  with  political  and 
popular  agitation  in  the  persons  of  Cromwell  and  the 
Puritans,  so  this  period  of  Transition,  beginning  with 
the  general  excitement  attendant  upon  the  return  of 
Charles  II.  and  continuing  in  bitter  feuds  of  the  time 
of  James  II.  ended  in  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary, 
with  the  Great  Revolution  of  1688.  Whatever  the 
Commonwealth  agitation  did  for  the  first  era   in  the 


76  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

line  of  a  stalwart  and  trenchant  prose,  this  final  and 
pervasive  English  Revolution  did  far  more.  It  settled 
two  questions  among  others  which,  in  their  religious, 
political  and  social  bearings  cannot  be  overestimated, 
and  which  in  the  realm  of  the  literature,  then  transi- 
tional, did  a  potent  and  enduring  good.  It  settled 
the  relation  of  the  Romish  Church  to  the  Protestant, 
(in  England)  as  one  of  subjection  rather  than  su- 
premacy, and  it  settled  the  basis  of  Constitutional 
Government  in  England  as  opposed  to  despotism, 
or  absolute  monarchy.  It  introduced  and  guaran- 
teed the  doctrine  of  popular  rights  in  such  wise 
that  it  has  not  been  permanently  disturbed  since 
that  era. 

The  effect  of  this  agitation  on  the  native  prose  was 
extremely  happy  and  healthful.  It  gave  it  just  what 
it  needed  at  the  time — literary  spirit,  flexibility,  force, 
manliness,  positiveness  and  freedom  of  expression. 
It  recovered  that  Protestant  and  evangelical  tone 
under  William  of  Orange  which  it  had  formerly 
possessed  under  Elizabeth  and  Cromwell  and  had 
lost  under  Charles  II.  and  James  II.  It  regained  that 
native  English  temper  and  vigor  which,  in  the  inter- 
val of  Stuart  rule,  had  been  impaired  by  excessive 
foreign  influence.  More  than  all,  it  recovered  some- 
thing of  that  ethical  purity  which  had  so  marked  it 
in  former  days  as  distinct  from  the  gross  literature 
of  the  Continent. 

Not  only  was  the  Revolution  of  1688  the  most  im- 
portant one  in  English  history,  but  equally  so  in 
English  Prose.  The  sum  total  effect  of  it  was  libera- 
tive  and  exalting.  It  broke  away  the  barriers  which 
a  despotic  church   and  civil  polity  had  raised,  and 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS. —  TRANSITIONAL.    77 

bade  the  English  people  go  out  into  a  wide, area  and 
on  to  a  better  history.     The  nation  began  to  breathe 
a  purer  air  and  live  a  freer  life.     Men  thought  inde- 
pendently   of  others    and  spoke  and  wrote  as  they 
thought.      Just   as   soon   as    the    outward   agitation 
ceased  and  matters  settled  into  civic  and  social  order, 
the  authors  of  the  time,  who  had  been  repressed  and 
hampered,  at  once  awoke  to  the  .splendid  issues  before 
them,  and  the  future  of  English  Letters  was  assured. 
It  is  noticeable  just  here,  as  in  the  days  of  the  Pro- 
tectorate, that  such  healthful  agitation  expressed  it- 
self mainly  in  prose,  rather  than  in  poetry.     In  each 
of  these  periods — Formative  and  Transitional — poetry 
was  prevalent  at  the  opening,  but  prose  at  the  close; 
and   in  each,   this  order   was   in    keeping  with    the 
agitated  character  of  the  time   and  the  special    de- 
mand   for   honest,    earnest    words.      In    such    times, 
authors  must  for  awhile  forego  the  pleasure  of  poetic 
invention  and  the   indulgence  of  imaginative  power 
and   resort  to  that   straightforward    method   of  ex- 
pression  which    obtains  in  prose    discourse.     Locke 
and  Temple,  South  and  Sydney,  Bentley  and  Collins 
could  have  written  at  that  time  in  no  other  form  than 
in  prose.     The  gravest  questions  of  church  and'  state, 
of  society  and  letters  were    before    them    and  there 
was  but  one  medium  for  their  expression. 

2.   The  Personal  Character  and  Work  of 
Leading  Minds. 

This  traditional  era,  bad  as  it  was,  was  not  given 
entirely  over  to  evil  men  and  agencies.  Now,  as  ever 
in  English  history,  strong  opposition  was  manifested 
and  so  strong  as,  at  times,  to  prevail.     Special  meed 


78  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

is  due  to  those  men  who,  in  such  a  time,  sternly 
contended  for  sound  morals  and  good  letters  and 
wrought  patiently  in  the  sphere  of  native  authorship. 
One  of  the  special  features  of  the  period  is  seen  in 
the  defensive  attitude  assumed  by  some  of  the  prose 
authors  of  the  time  against  the  prevailing  degener- 
acy. Their  effort  was  to  conserve  what  was  already 
theirs. 

Inferior  as  the  era  in  some  respects  was,  it  is  safe 
to  assert  that  there  is  scarcely  an  able  writer  of  that 
time  in  English  didactic  prose  who  was  not  upon  the 
side  of  mental  and  moral  reform.  It  was  because 
they  were  so  outnumbered  by  the  hosts  of  second- 
rate  authors  and  men  that  the  results  are  not  more 
apparent.  Even  Dryden,  whose  main  work  was  in 
poetry,  and  who  in  that  sphere  too  often  transgressed 
the  limits  of  propriety,  was  in  his  prose  more  discreet 
and  classic.  As  far  as  he  went  in  this  direction  he 
was  able  and  helpful  and  had  he  continued  his  prose 
work  beyond  mere  Prefaces,  Dedications,  Translations 
and  Epistles,  might  have  gained  a  conspicuous  place 
among  his  countrymen.  If  Thomas  Hobbes  was  writ- 
ing in  the  interests  of  a  false  philosophy,  Cudworth, 
Locke  and  Newton  opposed  him.  If  some  were 
slavishlv  addicted  to  the  French,  most  of  the  best 
were  loyal  to  their  English  ancestry  and  speech.  A 
brilliant  order  of  English  Prose  is  not  to  be  expected 
in  such  a  period.  The  conditions  did  not  exist.  It 
is  creditable  to  find  even  a  second  order  of  prose 
writers  wTho,  amid-  all  discouragements,  maintained 
their  ground  and  preserved,  to  some  extent,  at  least, 
the  historical  continuity  of  English  Letters.  If  the 
era  was  transitional,  it  had  reference  to  what  was  to 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— TRANSITIONAL.      79 

follow  it  as  well  as  to  what  had  preceded  it.  The  best 
that  can  be  said  of  it' is,  that  as  we  go  steadily  on 
from  the  opening  to  the  close  of  it  through  its  forty- 
two  years,  English  Prose  at  the  end  of  it,  in  1702,  is 
seen  to  be  on  a  better  basis,  after  all,  than  ever  before; 
and  we  can  discern  more  easily  than  ever  the  character 
of  the  future  that  awaited  it. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PERIOD  OF  SETTLEMENT— 1700-1760. 

This  period  includes  a  little  over  half  a  century; 
the  reigns  of  Queen  Anne,  George  I.  and  George  II., 
and  may  fitly  be  termed  in  this  respect  the  Quesn 
Anne  and  Early  Georgian  period  of  our  prose. 

The  Term  Augustan  applied  to  this  Period. 

Leaving  the  transitional  period  between  the  For- 
mative era  and  the  present,  it  is  now  in  place  to 
note  this  special  epoch  before  us  in  the  days  of 
Swift  and  Addison.  This  age  has  been  known  here- 
tofore both  in  poetry  and  in  prose,  by  no  other 
name  than  Augustan  and  until  recently,  has  been 
accepted  by  critics  without  debate,  as  deserving  the 
title  it  bears.  It  has,  also,  had  the  sanction  of  general 
acceptance,  though,  it  must  be  added,  mainly  through 
ignorance,  or  indifference  as  to  the  exact  appropriate- 
ness of  the  phrase.  The  people  of  that  era  were 
quite  willing,  on  grounds  of  national  and  intellectual 
pride,  to  have  the  age  thus  designated  in  history. 
Modern  literary  and  historical  criticism  has  objected, 
and  rightly,  to  this  appellation ;  so  that  the  question 
is  an  open  one.  If  inquiry  is  made  into  the  precise 
origin  of  it,   it   will  appear  that  the   very  reaction 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— SETTLED.         81 

which  took  place  in  church  and  state,  in  life  and 
literature,  led  to  its  adoption.  To  those  who  had  ex- 
perienced the  troublous  times  of  the  Stuarts  and  the 
more  objectionable  extremes  of  the  Great  Eebellion, 
the  period  was  indeed  Augustan.  It  was  so  rela- 
tively, however,  rather  than  really.  Still  further,  we 
note  from  the  pen  of  Carruthers,  an  English  bio- 
grapher, that  the  age  "  was  Augustan  only  in  the 
patronage  it  extended  to  authors,  which  for  extent 
and  liberality  was  unexampled." 

In  confirmation  of  this,  he  goes  on  to  cite  examples 
of  English  authors  who  enjoyed  the  protection  and 
favor  of  the  government.  This  high  enlogium  is  in 
a  sense  true,  but  needs  modification.  If  we  look 
carefully  into  the  personal  character  of  the  kings  and 
rulers  of  the  time  and  their  respective  political  poli- 
cies, a  particular  of  interest  will  be  noted.  It  is,  that 
their  type  of  personal  character  was  not  such  as  to 
lend  to  literature  or  to  anything  else  a  strong,  posi- 
tive support.  The  order  of  royal  mind  was  negative 
and  inferior.  They  cannot  be  said  to  have  discour- 
aged letters.  They  did  not  heartily  favor  them. 
The  attitude  was  one  of  indifference.  It  was  scarcely 
possible  for  the  narrow-minded  time-serving  Queen 
Anne  to  enter  with  zest  into  that  new  literary  move- 
ment which  had  arisen  by  the  sheer  force  of  events. 
As  to  George  I.  his  notable  lack  of  culture  was  a 
disgrace  to  the  nation  he  ruled.  Little  encourage- 
ment, surely,  could  be  expected  from  him  who  was 
as  ignorant  of  the  correct  and  elegant  use  of  English, 
as  he  was  brutishly  indifferent  to  its  cultivation. 
Though  at  times  assuming  the  air  of  a  litterateur,  he 
did  so  from  mercenary  motives  aud  was  playing  a 


82  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

part  for  which  he  was  in  no  sense  fitted.  He  was 
certainly  in  no  wise  a  representative  of  the  great 
Roman  Augustus,  from  whom  the  age,  in  Rome  and 
Britain,  took  its  name.  George  III.  in  morals,  fol- 
lowed his  fathers,  and  as  to  genius,  was  a  soldier,  only. 
The  royal  attitude,  therefore,  in  so  far  as  it  was 
favorable,  was  patronizing.  Addison.  Swift,  Steele 
and  other  prose  writers,  as  well  as  the  poets,  were 
the  subjects  of  such  favor;  but  it  was  for  purposes  of 
policy  and  selfish  interest.  Partisan  politics  absorbed 
too  much  of  the  attention  of  the  powers  to  allow  of 
any  disinterested  kindness  to  authors.  It  has  been 
aptly  remarked  by  Ward  in  this  connection,  "  that 
the  Whigs  will  crown  Addison  the  Laureate  of  their 
party,  but  not  till  he  has  sung  the  glories  of  their 
acknowledged  hero."  Courtiers  of  varied  rank  and 
title  feasted  and  flattered  the  authors,  if  so  be  the 
authors  returned  the  favor  in  the  form  of  excessive 
laudation.  Failing  to  offer  such  return,  the  face  of 
official  support  was  coldly  diverted  from  them.  Sir 
Robert  Walpole,  so  utterly  unscrupulous  in  matters 
of  state,  was  equally  loose  in  his  relations  to  literary 
men  whose  services  he  wished  to  secure.  He  so  ex- 
tensively favored  the  authors  of  the  time  for  private 
ends  that  he  brought  political  patronage  into  de- 
served odium  and  transmitted  his  name  to  history  as 
the  most  reckless  "  pen-hirer  "  of  his  day.  He  was 
strikingly  different  in  this  particular  from  Sir  Wm. 
Temple,  the  famous  diplomat  at  the  court  of  William 
and  Mary.  In  view  of  such  facts,  it  is  not  surprising, 
to  find  the  writers  of  the  time  lamenting  the  want 
of  a  more  healthful  and  ardent  support  at  the  hands 
of  official  power. 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— SETTLED.         83 

One  of  the  tenderest  expression^  in  English  Letters 
is  found  in  a  poem  written  by  poor  Savnge,  called 
"The  Poet's  Dependence  on  a  Statesman,''  in  which, 
bastard  that  he  was,  he  looks  to  the  final  judgment 
as  his  only  consolation. 

"A  scene  will  show,  all  righteous  vision  haste! 
The  meek  exalted  and  the  proud  debased. 
Oh  !  to  be  there  !  to  tread  that  friendly  shore 
Where  falsehood,  pride,  and  statesmen  are  no  more  !  " 

The  age  was  Augustan  in  the  freeness  of  its  royal 
patronage,  but  not  in  the  motive  and  quality  of  such 
patronage.  In  noting  still  further  the  origin  and 
propriety  of  the  name  Augustan,  reference  must  be 
made  to  Latin  Letters  at  the  time  of  Augustus. 
Professor  Covington,  in  speaking  of  the  poetry  of 
this  age,  remarks:  "  It  is  a  curious  circumstance 
that  the  advice  given  by  Walsh  to  Pope — to  be  cor- 
rect in  his  writing — was  precisely  the  advice  which 
Horace  gave  to  his  countrymen."  The  remark  will 
apply  fully  as  well  to  the  prose  of  this  era.  The 
point  is,  that  the  Horatian  idea  of  written  expression 
was  different  from  that  which  had  preceded.  Horace 
took  exception,  as  Boileau  did  in  France,  and  the 
Essayists  did  in  England,  to  the  manifest  indifferenee 
of  most  preceding  writers  to  the  external  form  of 
discourse.  He  cautions  them  against  what  might  be 
called,  a  loose  extravagance  of  ideas  and  words,  at. 
the  expense  of  concise  finish  of  style.  He  insists 
that  writers  must  express  themselves  with  more 
precision  and  elegance.  He  rebukes  the  pride  of 
Luciliua  when  he  boasts  of  having  produced  two 
hundred   verses  in  an    hour   and  much    prefers    the 


84  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

painstaking  care  of  Vergil  who,  after  eleven  years  of 
revision,  called  bis  iEneid  unfinished.  In  fine,  he 
aimed  to  adjust,  in  their  true  proportions,  quality  and 
quantity  in  the  literary  product.  In  this  particular, 
the  term  Augustan  is  in  place,  especially  as  to  the 
first  half  of  this  Period  of  Settlement,  between  which 
time  and  that  of  Horace  there  is  striking  analogy. 
In  each  epooh,  alike,  the  external  structure  of  litera- 
ture was  specially  expressed.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
epochs  preceding  and  following  these  respective 
periods,  in  England  and  Rome,  were  strikingly  sim- 
ilar as  to  the  relation  of  form  and  subject-matter. 
The  Pre-Horatian  Period  of  Cicero,  though  not  strictly 
a  golden  age  as  was  that  of  Elizabeth,  was,  still,  an 
age  of  profuse  production,  as  distinct  from  that  which 
is  precise.  The  Post-Horatian  Period  also  corres- 
ponded to  the  Post-Augustan  Age  in  England  as  to 
the  subjection  of  the  critical  element  of  Juvenal  and 
Tacitus  to  wider  forms  of  literary  expression.  Hence, 
in  the  use  of  the  word,  Augustan,  as  here  applied,  it 
is  not  to  be  employed  as  a  synonym  of  Golden,  thus 
relating  it  to  the  age  of  Bacon,  but  as  referring  to 
the  times  of  Latin  Letters,  when  perfection  of  literary 
form  took  precedence  of  the  creation  of  literary  ideas. 
I  f  we  divide  the  schools  of  literary  expression  into 
Creative,  Impassioned  and  Critical,  it  is  to  the  last 
of  these  that  special  reference  is  made.  It  was  an 
age  of  didactic  and  formal  prose,  rather  than  one  of 
original  and  emotional  power.  There  was  little  of 
the  "  sensuous  or  passionate,"  of  which  Milton  speaks. 
The  statement  which  Mr.  Hallam  makes  of  the  lit- 
erature of  the  reign  of  William  will  apply  here  far 
more  correctly,  as  he  says:  "It  marks  the  nadir  in 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— SETTLED.        85 

works  of  imagination."  So  strong  was  this  didactic 
bent  and  tendency,  that  even  in  poetry  it  controlled 
all  else.  Where  one  expression  of  genuine  poetic 
fervor  is  given,  of  the  style  of  Thomson's  "Seasons" 
or  Collins,  scores  are  given  us  after  the  formal  man- 
ner of  Pope  and  Young  and  Prior.  Mark  Akenside 
writes  a  poem  on  "The  Pleasures  of  the  Imagination," 
of  which  the  two  main  features  are,  that  there  is  no 
imagination  evinced  in  the  production  of  it  and  no 
pleasure  experienced  in  the  perusal  of  it.  It  should 
have  been  written  in  prose.  The  era  was  one  of 
verbal  precision  and  in  this  respect  sharply  in  con- 
trast with  the  ages  preceding.  It  will  be  seen  in  the 
subsequent  parts  of  this  discussion  that  there  are 
benefits  as  well  as  evils  connected  with  this  critical 
tendency  in  letters  and  that  in  this  very  feature  of 
the  era  there  are  to  be  found  those  elements  that 
make  the  Augustan  and  Early  Georgian  age  one  of 
prose  rather  than  poetry.  In  this  connection  there 
remains  a  further  feature  of  the  age  to  be  noted — 
Political  Partisanship.  It  was  a  time  of  petty  feuds 
and  party  rivalries — a  war  of  words  and  pens,  more 
bitter,  at  times,  than  that  of  the  sword.  It  seems  to 
have  been  the  general  impression  of  the  time  that 
after  the  Revolution  of  1688  had  closed  affairs  of 
state  would  adjust  themselves  into  unity  and  pol- 
itical order.  As  already  stated,  in  all  substantial 
senses  this  was  true.  English  Liberties  and  English 
Constitutional  Government  were  for  the  first  time 
guaranteed,  as  the  result  of  that  revolution.  As  in 
all  such  events,  however,  the  immediate  and  external 
results  were  of  a  different  character,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  friction  was  oocasioned  just  because  affairs 


86  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

were  settling  into  proper  relations  and  law  was 
becoming  triumphant.  This  friction  expressed  itself 
in  the  sharp  discussions  of  Whigs  and  Tories.  There 
were  factions  for  and  against  the  government,  for 
and  against  the  policy  which  Temple  had  introduced 
into  statecraft,  divers  opinions  as  to  foreign  policies 
and  the  mutual  relations  of  subject  and  sovereign. 
Friends  of  the  old  Stuart  dynasty  were  still  in  the 
realm  and  as  the  double-minded  Anne  ascended  the 
throne  the  Tories  were  in  power.  Political  clubs  of 
all  descriptions,  from  the  "  Kit  Cat"  to  the  "  October." 
arose,  and  defended  their  respective  tenets.  Addison 
was  issuing  "  The  Freeholder  "  on  behalf  of  religious 
principles,  while  Swift  was  issuing  his  "Conduct  of 
The  Allies,"  and  "  Public  Spirit  of  the  Whigs,"  in 
defence  of  Toryism.  The  queen  was  worse  than  a 
figure-head.  She  was  the  puppet  of  the  politicians. 
All  were  wondering  as  to  the  future,  and  as  the  death 
of  Anne  was  announced  in  1714,  all  was  reversed. 
Dukes  and  Duchesses  fled  to  France  to  escape  the 
Tower.  The  top  went  to  the  bottom  and  the  Whigs 
triumphed.  "Curse  on  the  word,  party,"  said  Pope. 
The  strange  thing  is  that  literature  lived  at  such  a 
time.  It  finds  its  partial  explanation  in  the  fact  that 
the  clubs  then  formed  were  literary  as  well  as  civil. 
Comparing  the  Whig  and  Tory  circles  in  this  respect, 
it  is  suggestive  that  in  the  one,  literature  was  domi- 
nant over  politics,  while  in  the  other,  this  relation 
was  reversed.  When  Swift  wrote  his  trenchant 
prose  invectives  as  a  Tory  leader,  he  was  more  of  a 
partisan  politician  than  an  author.  When  Addison 
wrote  his  prose  essays  as  a  Whig  exponent,  the 
author  was  prominent  over  the  interested  member  of 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS. — SETTLED.         87 

a  faction,  and  it  was  the  influence  of  this  Addisonian 
spirit  that  gave  to  letters  a  permanent  precedence  in 
England  over  politics.  As  far  as  this  party  strife  had 
sway,  it  tended  to  evil,  and  degenerated,  often,  into 
personal  scandal  and  abuse.  The  inquisitive  Disraeli 
might  have  constructed  a  volume  upon,  The  Quarrels 
of  Authors,  without  going  beyond  the  limits  of  this 
age.  Had  this  strife  been  central  rather  than  su- 
perficial and  general  rather  than  restricted  in  area, 
the  age  of  Anne  and  the  first  Geoi'ge  would  have 
been  the  most  unstable  period  of  our  history  and 
literature. 

As  it  was,  it  is  all  the  more  interesting  to  note  that 
English  government  and  English  Prose  were,  alike 
established  for  the  first  time  in  this  Augustan  and 
Geoi-gian  Age  to  an  extent  hitherto  unknown,  and 
in  a  form  from  which  they  have  not  materially 
departed. 

Appropriateness  of  the  Term,  Settled,  here  Applied. 

This  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  great  substantial 
/  rms  of  modern  prose  and  the  leading  qualities  of 
prose  style  as  we  shall  study  them  are  now  so  fully 
illustrated  that  they  may  be  taken  as  a  standard,  or 
point  of  departure,  in  all  critical  study  of  our  lit- 
erature. By  this,  it  is  not  meant  that  there  is  exhib- 
ited in  this  period  as  high  a  style  of  English  Prose 
as  is  found  in  succeeding  years,  but  that  it  was  in 
advance  of  anything  preceding  it  both  as  to  quantity 
and  character,  and  is  more  modern  in  form  and  effect 
than  the  best  that  had  been  produced  hitherto.  To 
our  mind,  critics  have  overreached  themselves  in  their 
excessive  praise  of  this  era.     We  are  aiming  simply 


88  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

to  emphasize  the  fact  that,  apart  from  its  quality  as 
better  or  worse,  it  marks  a  prose  for  the  first  time 
settled,  as  distinct  from  one  in  process  of  formation 
or  transition,  as  well  as  distinct  from  that  which 
later  on  is  more  fully  developed  and  applied.  As 
settled,  it  was  a  better  order  of  prose  than  that  of 
the  days  of  Bacon  and  Dryden,  though  inferior  to 
that  which  followed  in  the  succeeding  era. 

A  Period  of  Prose. 

The  most  important  feature  of  this  period,  as  com- 
pared with  the  two  preceding  it,  is  its  distinctively 
prose  character.  In  our  study  of  the  historical  de- 
velopment of  English  Prose,  this  fact  is  invaluable 
and  full  of  promise.  It  reveals  to  us  the  truth  that 
from  the  days  of  Ascham  on  to  Addison, progress  had 
been  in  the  main,  unbroken.  Despite  the  transitional 
character  of  Stuart  times,  the  continuity  was  not 
altogether  unbroken,  and  when  in  the  days  of  Queen 
Anne  our  prose  took  settled  shape  and  character,  it 
must  be  confessed  that  forces  had  been  at  work  of 
which  no  full  account  had  been  taken  and  that  more 
advance  had  been  made  than  the  most  sanguine 
critics  had  allowed.  All  the  tendencies  of  the  age 
were  prosaic  in  the  best  sense.  The  character  of  the 
age  as  it  has  been  described  demanded  such  a  form 
of  literary  art  as  distinct  from  verse,  so  that  even 
when  verse  was  attempted  it  was  of  that  order  that 
bordered  the  most  closely  upon  the  un-metrical. 

Just  as  in  the  poetical  age  of  Elizabeth,  Sir  Philip 
Sydney  wrote  the  Arcadia  in  a  prose  that  might  be 
called  poetical,  so  now,  Pope  and  his  colleagues  in  the 
sphere  of  poetry  wrote  a  poetry  that  might  be  called, 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS.— SETTLED.         89 

technical  and  didactic.  Most  of  what  they  wrote 
was  virtual  prose  and  they  did  wisely  in  }'ielding 
thus  far  to  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Never  were  the 
JdstnrimL^Jende7icies  of  a  period  and  the  literary 
work  of  authors  more  in  harmony.  Prose  writers 
entei-ed  with  fullest  zest  into  the  meaning  of  the  hour, 
and  poets  if  they  must  versify  did  so  in  terms  of  prose 
discourse  and  were  poets  simply  in  the  sense  that 
the  accents  of  their  poetry  occurred  at  regular  inter- 
vals. It  is  also  suggestive  to  note  here  that  the 
critical  character  of  the  age,  as  distinct  from  the 
creative,  was  inclined  to  express  itself  in  prose. 
Essays  on  criticism,  such  as  Pope's,  were  written  in 
metre  but  are  really  prose  productions.  That  temper 
of  mind  and  order  of  mental  power  that  finds  its 
best  expression  in  reflective  and  minute  comment 
naturally  uses  the  un-metrical  form.  Critical  writing 
as  critical,  prefers  the  prose  form,  and  when  assum- 
ing any  other,  departs  somewhat  from  its  natural 
sphere.  Hence  it  is  seen  that  all  the  main  literary 
tendencies  of  the  age  united  in  fostering  that  partic- 
ular form  of  literary  art  for  which  the  nation  was 
ready. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  the  close  of  each 
of  the  preceding  periods  was  distinctively  prose  as  - 
compared  with  the  opening.  Here,  the  period  from 
opening  to  close  is  a  prose  period;  emphatically  so 
and  increasingly  so  as  it  goes  on.  Standing  midway 
between  the  first  two  periods  and  the  fourth,  it  ex- 
pressed the  best  of  what  had  been  secured  already 
and  laid  the  groundwork  for  all  that  was  to  follow. 
What  Saintsbury  says  of  Dryden  may  more  justly 
bespoken  hereof  Addison:  "At  the  time  when  he 


90  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

first  began  to  write  there  was  no  accepted  prose  style 
of  English.  Great  masters  may  be  quoted  from  the 
seventeenth  century,  but  their  excellences  were  al- 
most wholly  individual  and  provided  in  no  way  a 
model  whereby  the  average  writer  might  form  him- 
self for  average  purposes.  Prose  is  now  the  instru- 
ment of  the  average  purpose." 

English  Prose,  as  systematic,  now  takes  its  place 
once  for  all  in  our  literary  history  "as  distinct  from 
those  isolated  and  exceptional  specimens  of  it  that 
had  marked  the  earlier  eras.  "  For  the  first  time," 
says  Saintsbury,  "the  style  of  English  Prose  becomes 
simple  and  clear."  If  we  compare  the  essays  of  Ad- 
dison with  those  of  Bacon  and  Cowley,  we  shall 
understand  what  is  meant  by  settled  or  formed  prose 
as  distinct  from  that  which  is  formative  and  tran- 
sitive. Some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  English 
Prose  of  this  era  may  now  be  noted. 

(A.)  Characteristics. 

1.  Periodical,  as  opposed  to  those  more  extended 
forms  in  which  the  prose  of  preceding  and  later 
periods  found  expression.  The  most  cursory  reader 
of  the  prose  of  the  age  will  mark  this  feature  first  of 
all,  and  the  more  carefully  the  student  examines  it, 
the  more  he  will  see  that,  as  certainly  as  the  age 
demanded  prose  rather  than  poetry,  it  demanded  the 
periodical  form  in  preference  to  any  other.  This 
particular  tendency  began  early  in  the  era  in  the 
person  of  De  Foe,  who  may  be  said  to  open  that 
splendid  series  of  periodical  prose  literature  which 
has  marked  the  history  of  English  thought 
since  his  day.     Dying  in  1731,  he  belongs  in  part,  to 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— SETTLED.         91 

the  Augustan  era.  That  the  age  should  have  de- 
manded such  a  form  is  eminently  natural  after  what 
has  been  said  as  to  its  political  partisanship  and  club 
life.  It  was  the  golden  era  of  party  pamphlets — 
short,  crisp  and  racy.  The  lines  of  Young  were  in 
place. — 

"Our  senate  meets;  at  parties  parties  bawl, 
And  pamphlets  storm  the  streets  and  load  the  stalls. 
Trace,  trace,  ye  Vandals  !  our  tormented  ear 
Less  dreads  a  pillory,  than  a  pamphleteer." 

The  official  leaders  and  middle  classes  are  just  well 
informed  enough  to  produce  and  read  such  documents 
and  for  the  time  being  they  monopolized  the  English 
mind.  The  transition  from  the  political  to  the  dis- 
tinctively literary  pamphlet  or  essay,  might  have 
been  difficult  at  some  epochs,  but  was  not  in  this. 
As  already  stated,  the  clubs  were  of  both  characters. 
Their  members  mingled  in  civic  and  scholarly  debate. 
Addison  and  others  wrote  political  essays  in  a  lit- 
erary manner;  and  the  transition  from  the  partisan 
pamphlet  to  the  finished  essay  was  short  and  natural. 
When  the  strife  of  factions  subsided,  the  literary 
element  came  into  prominence  and  English  periodical 
prose  took  its  permanent  form.  It  was  the  age  of 
a  prose  that  was  sketchy  and  readable,  the  people's 
era  in  the  realm  of  letters.  That  type  of  prose  pro- 
ductions which  is  now  termed  "miscellaneous  "  began 
at  this  point.  For  this  reason,-  if  for  no  other,  we 
are  not  to  look  to  the  Augustan  age  as  some  do,  for 
our  highest  prose.  For  this  reason,  however,  we 
are  to  look  there  for  a  settled  type  of  general  prose. 
The  Essayists  were  in  power. 


92  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

2.  Popular.  It  is  important  to  emphasize  the 
fact  often  contested,  that  the  prose  of  this  age 
was  popular  prose  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  be- 
fore it.  It  was  so  just  because  it  was  periodical 
or  racy,  rather  than  technical.  It  was  not  theolo- 
gical to  the  extent  in  which  Hooker's  was,  nor  was 
it  philosophical  in  the  sense  that  Bacon's  was,  or 
formal  and  scholarly  even  to  the  degree  in  which 
Dryden's  was,  but  miscellaneous  and  catholic,  the 
language  of  the  club  and  the  social  company,  a  kind 
of  conversational  writing  for  the  great  body  of  the 
people.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that  the  prose  of  this 
age  was  thereby  devoid  of  literary  character  and 
representative  of  the  lower  rather  than  of  the  higher 
order  of  style. 

It  is  one  of  the  remarkable  features  of  the  era  that 
while  the   English  aimed  to  write  a    popular  prose 
and    succeeded    in    it,    they    still    presented  a  prose 
which    had  all  the  essential  marks  of  a  high  order 
of  composition.     As  before  stated,  they  did  not  pre- 
sent  the    highest  form  as  compared  with  what  fol- 
lowed, but  they  did  improve  upon  all  that  had  pre- 
ceded  and  handed    down   to  the  future  a  body   of 
English    Prose   which,   even   yet,  is  warmly  recom- 
mended   by  critics  to  the  student  of  English  style. 
It  was,  in  fact,  the  best  work  of  this  age  that,  avoid- 
ing the  scholasticism  of  Baconian  days,  the  exti'eme 
classicism  of  Dryden,  and,  also,   that  loose  order  of 
style   which  aims   to   win   applause   at   the   expense 
of  good  taste  and  literary  law.  it  stood  on  the  safe 
middle-ground   between    these    dangerous  extremes, 
and  produced  a  prose,  literary  and  popular,  and  thus, 
readable  by  all. 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— SETTLED.         93 

• 

This  was  the  very  form  which  the  succeeding  age 
was  wise  enough  to  adopt,  perfect  and  transmit  to 
the  present  era.  Technical  prose  belongs  to  the 
schools.  Prose  produced  in  violation  of  all  rhetorical 
principles  and  merely  for  the  hour  dies  with  the 
hour  that  marks  its  birth.  The  prose  that  is  produced 
to  live  and  which  the  educated  public  may  not  '•  wil- 
lingly let  die,"  is  that  which  was  established  in  the 
age  before  us  and  still  abides. 

It  is  important  to  note,  in  this  connection,  that 
British  Prose  Fiction  finds  its  historical  origin,  as 
the  periodical  essay  does,  in  this  Augustan  Age  and 
in  the  persons  of  the  same  authors,  De  Foe  and  Swift. 
This  fact  is  notable  as  marking  the  prose  character 
of  the  period  and,  also,  the  fact  that  its  prose 
was  narrative,  descriptive  and  popular  rather  than 
philosophic. 

Masson,  in  his  "  British  Novelists  "  shows  conclu- 
sively, that  whatever  may  have  been  the  earlier 
traces  of  the  Novel  in  England  and  Britain,  it  began 
essentially  in  this  age  as  a  systematic  prose  form : 
and  that  whatever  the  superior  excellence  of  later 
fiction,  this  was  sufficiently  good  in  the  persons  of 
Richardson,  Fielding,  and  Sterne  to  mark  it  as 
worthy  of  criticism  and  historical  place.  Prose 
Fiction  was  then  settled  as  all  other  prose  was  set- 
tied,  and  on  the  basis  thus  laid  arose  to  that,  wide 
expansion  which  marked  it  in  the  days  of  the  great 
British  Novelists  of  the  time  of  Thackeray. 

Before  leaving  this  period,  attention  should  be 
(•ailed  to  any  special  agencies  at  work  for  or  against 
the  native  prose.  We  shali  allude  to  one  example 
of  each. 


94  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

(B.)    Adverse  Agencies. 
The  Rise  and  Prevalence  of  French  Criticism. 

The  French  Academy  aimed  to  rule  in  England  as 
well  as  at  home.  The  ultra  critical  school  of  Boileau 
was  in  the  ascendant  and  enforcing  its  technical 
precepts  on  every  occasion.  It  was  the  reign  of 
the  Precieuses — a  school  so  extreme  in  its  canons 
and  methods  that  the  French  dramatists  themselves 
were  obliged  to  satirize  it. 

French  influence  had  somewhat  manifested  itself 
before,  in  the  days  of  Charles  I.,  and  more  especially, 
at  the  return  of  Charles  II.  That,  however,-  was 
largely  social  in  its  form  and  affected  literature 
mainly  on  the  ethical  side. 

Now,  this  Gallic  influence  was  purely  literary, 
working  in  English  Prose  somewhat  as  Euphuism 
from  Italy  affected  the  prose  in  the  days  of  Sydney. 
Nor  did  the  influence  consist  merely  or  mainly  in 
the  introduction  of  foreign  terms  into  the  vocabulary, 
but  rather  in  the  imposition  of  French  laws  of  liter- 
ary criiicism.  Nothing  could  be  allowed  to  pass 
current  until  it  had  squared  itself  to  the  line  laid 
down  by  Boileau  and  the  Academy.  The  danger  was 
in  the  form  of  undue  precision  and  nicety  of  expres- 
sion and  when  it  is  noted  that  all  the  tendencies  of 
the  time  were  critical,  it  was  especially  to  be  feared 
that  criticism  would  control  all  else  and  present  a 
body  of  prose  without  life  or  force.  Such  would  have 
been  the  result  had  the  French  School  with  its  En- 
glish adherents  prevailed.  The  drift  of  the  age,  how- 
ever, towards  its  close  changed  from  the  critical  to 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— SETTLED.         95 

the  popular  and  natural  and  the  doom  of  the  formal- 
ists was  sealed. 

The  revival  of  classicism  which  began  with  Dry- 
den  and  was  furthered  by  his  successors  had  well 
nigh  spent  its  force  when  George  II.  came  to  the 
throne,  and,  henceforth,  English  Prose  was  to  be 
less  foreign  and  more  native  than  ever.  The  En- 
glish Academy  had  already  taken  the  place  of  the 
French. 

(C.)    Friendly  Agencies. 

There  was  at  work  at  this  time  a  friendly  agency 
that  is  not  to  be  overlooked  in  its  relation  to  English 
Prose.  We  refer  to  the  Philological  study  of  English. 
The  subsequent  history  of  our  prose  will  reveal  the 
pervasive  influence  of  this  agency.  The  student  of 
our  literature,  especially  on  its  prose  side,  will  find 
from  this  time  on  that  the  development  of  the  litera- 
ture and  the  language  go  together.  Such  develop- 
ment took  its  scientific  origin  in  the  age  before  us 
and  its  importance  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 

In  the  Formative  and  Transitional  Periods,  it  is  in 
no  sense  a  systematic  study,  but  occasional  and 
irregular;  Bacon,  Johnson,  the  Translators  of  the 
Bible,  Milton,  Locke,  Temple  and  Pope  had  called 
attention  to  such  study,  but  rather  indirectly  than 
otherwise.  No  school  or  science  had  been  formed 
and  no  special  study  devoted  to  the  subject  till  agi- 
tated by  Dryden,  De  Foe  and  Dean  Swift,  Dryden 
had  alnady  lamented  the  looseness  of  English  dic- 
tion even  as  it.  obtained  in  Elizabethan  days  and  had 
taken  actual  measures  for  its  correction.  Had  not 
Dryden  been  so  devoted  to  the  old  classical  lore,  in 


96  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

theory  and  practice,  his  influence  would  have  been 
more  marked.  Swift,  in  his  "  Proposal  for  Correct- 
ing-, Improving  and  Ascertaining  (fixing)  the  Eng- 
lish Tongue"  (1712),  did  the  first  and  best  work  in 
the  scientific  study  of  English  for  its  expression  in 
prose  forms.  Tickell,  in  his  "  Prospect  of  Peace," 
speaks  hopefully  of  a  time  when  the  language  shall 
be  released  from  its  present  bondage.  So  Prior,  in 
his  "  Carmen  Secularo,"  makes  mention  of: 

"Some  that  with  care  true  oloquence  shall  teach 
And  to  just  idioms  fix  our  doubtful  speech." 

Poets  and  prose  writers  alike  were  now  alive,  as 
never  before,  to  the  study  of  the  native  speech,  not 
for  its  own  sake,  but  on  the  behalf  of  literary  ex- 
pression. When,  in  1755,  Dr.  Johnson  issued  his 
"  English  Dictionary,"  a  work  was  done  for  English 
speech  and  English  Prose  which  cannot  now  be  appre- 
ciated. Though  it  was  a  failure  as  an  etymological 
lexicon  for  the  scholar,  it  was  a  valuable  dictionary 
for  the  age  in  which  it  was  prepared, — the  people's 
word-book,  excellent  for  the  time  in  its  definitions, 
rich  in  illustration,  and  serving  to  unify  and  adjust 
all  that  had  been  done  by  Swift  and  others.  Non- 
scientific  as  it  was,  it  marked  the  beginning  of  the 
higher  study  of  English  Philology,  and  every  later 
lexicographer  must  look  into  it.  It  introduced  a 
kind  of  study  which  has  done  more  for  our  literature 
than  any  other.  Authors  have  understood  that  before 
they  write  they  must  know  the  nature  of  that  language 
which  they  are  using, — its  forms,  capacity  and  powers. 
Other  things  being  equal,  he  will  use  the  language 
with  clearness,  vigor,  facility  and  grace,  who  subjects 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS  —SETTLED.  07 

it,  as  a  language,  to  careful  study  on  a  systematic 
method. 

At  the  point  of  view  where  we  now  stand,  it  may 
be  clearly  seen  that  English  Prose  has  made  decided 
advances  since  the  days  of  Bacon  and  Dryden.  Mr. 
Saintsbury,  in  his  "  Life  of  Dryden,"  assigns  the  ad- 
vance to  four  distinct  causes:  "The  pulpit,  political 
discussion,  miscellaneous  writing,  and  literary  criti- 
cism." Whatever  the  causes  may  have  been,  they 
were  numerous  enough,  and  sufficiently  potent  to 
give  us  a  prose  finally  fixed,  rather  than  one  in  form- 
ation or  transition.  This  was  a  decided  advance 
and  marks  the  age  as  one  of  prose.  The  age  did 
more  than  this;  it  settled  the  prose  as  English,  rather 
than  foreign ;  as  popular,  rather  than  technical ;  as, 
correct,  rather  than  loose  and  irregular;  as  simple, 
rather  than  involved;  and  as  healthful,  rather  than 
harmful. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  morality  of  the  poetry 
of  the  time,  or  of  the  prose  of  such  writers  as  Swift 
and  Smollett,  it  is  safe  to  state  that  the  prose  of  the 
Augustan  and  Early  Georgian  Age  was.  in  the  main 
a  marked  advance  over  the  preceding  period,  and 
fully  in  keeping  with  that  of  the  age  of  Elizabeth. 
In  the  Restoration,  immorality  was  the  law.  Now, 
it  is  the  exception.  The  general  influence  of  the 
period  was  good. 

The  time  is  now  rife  for  a  still  wider  and  higher 
development  of  English  Prose.  Premonitions  of  its 
approach  are  distinctly  seen  as  early  as  the  opening 
of  the  Georgian  era,  and  more  distinctly  still,  as  we 
enter  the  reign  of  George  II.  It  was  in  the  days  of 
Queen  Anne  and  of  Addison  (1709),  that  he  was  bom 


98  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

whose  name  fitly  stands  at  the  head  of  the  hew  de- 
velopment. Samuel  Johnson,  with  his  dictionary  in 
one  hand  and  his  Rasselas  and  Rambler  in  the  other, 
introduces  us,  in  person,  to  the  fourth  and  final 
period  of  English  Prose. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

PEEIOD  OF  EXPANSION  AND  EXPBES- 
SION— 1760-18— . 

As  far  as  the  royal  power  is  concerned,  this  may  be 
styled  the  Later  Georgian  and  Victorian  Era. 

It  includes  the  reigns  of  George  III.,  George  IV., 
William  IV.,  and  runs  on,  a  quarter  of  a  century  or 
so,  into  the  present  English  queenship.  It  covers, 
in  exact  limits,  the  course  of  a  century,  while  its 
forces  are  still  at  work  before  us. 

The  Modern  Period  Proper. 

After  noting  in  brief  survey  the  First  and  Middle- 
English  Periods  as  introductory,  Modern  English 
Prose  was  divided  into  four  eras.  Each  of  these  falls 
within  the  province  of  Modern  as  distinct  from  our 
Earlier  Prose.  The  period  now  before  us  is,  however, 
peculiarly  so.  Nor  is  it  simply  meant  by  this  that  it 
is  most  modern,  because  the  last  of  the  series  of  each 
period  is  more  modern  than  the  one  preceding  it,  but 
that  in  character  and  measure  of  production  it  is  so. 
It  might  properly  be  termed  Present-English  Prose, 
inasmuch  as  the  larger  portion  of  the  period  is  in 
the  present  century.     Even  that  portion  of  it  found 


100  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

in  the  eighteenth  century  is  the  very  prose  in  its 
quality  that  is  found  in  the  nineteenth.  It  is  modern 
emphatically  in  that  English  Prose  has  not  materially 
changed  in  character  since  the  opening  of  the  era  in 
17G0.  It  has  now  the  same  cast  of  tone  and  may  so 
be  studied.  Just  as  Modern-English  Prose  dates  from 
Shakespeare,  and  yet  the  English  of  to-day  in  En- 
gland and  America  is  more  modern  than  his  and  thus 
different,  so  as  to  the  literature,  and  especially  the 
prose  literature.  It  is  nineteenth  century  prose.  Built 
on  the  basis  of  Augustan  Prose,  it  widely  differs  in 
the  form  and  measure  of  its  development.  It  has  an 
individuality  of  its  own.      It  is  essentially  new. 

Prevalence  of  Prose  in  this  Age. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  first  period  poetry  pre- 
vailed, though  prose  had  a  history  throughout,  and 
was  especially  prominent  at  the  close.  In  the  second 
era,  these  were  more  evenly  adjusted,  poetry  being 
more  prevalent  at  the  opening,  and  prose  at  the  end 
of  the  era.  In  the  third,  prose  takes  precedence 
throughout.  In  this  final  period,  there  is  a  more 
healthful  relation  of  these  two  forms  of  literary  ex- 
pression than  ever  before.  On  a  cursory  glance  over 
the  period,  it  is  puzzling  to  state  the  prevailing  form. 
We  state  it  correctly  by  saying  that  each  is  promi- 
nent throughout,  and  that  while  at  the  beginning 
the  main  development  is  poetic,  the  prose  form  tends 
more  and  more  to  precedence  as  the  era  goes  on  and 
finally  secures  it.  If  we  extend  this  modern  era  to 
the  England  of  to-day,  the  statement  is  more  and 
more  confirmed.  It  is  certainly  safe  to  style  this 
period  a  distinctively  prose  period,  whether  we  refer 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— EXPANSIVE.      101 

to  quality,  or  amount  of  product.  The  era  strikingly 
confirms  the  central  point  of  our  whole  discussion — 
the  gradual,  historical  progress  of  English  Prose  from 
Bacon  to  Carlyle;  interrupted  at  times,  but  again  re- 
viving with  renewed  power,  until  we  come  to  its 
highest  expression  in  the  present  era.  The  Georgian 
Age  has  been  termed  by  Masson,  Minto,  and  most 
critics,  the  Prose  Age.  This  is  all  true  by  way  of 
quantitative  estimate,  aud  relation  to  poetry.  The 
proportion  of  Prose  over  Poetry  was  greater  than  it 
was  before,  or  has  been  since;  but  in  other  senses,  this 
more  modern  era  is  fully  as  much  entitled  to  the  dis- 
tinction. It  may  be  expressed  as  follows:  That  in 
measure  and  character  of  prose  writing  it  has  no 
parallel  in  English  Letters.  It  is  an  Age  in  which 
more  standard  English  prose  has  been  written,  and 
by  more  standard  Euglish  writers  than  is  true  of  any 
other — the  Golden  Age  of  our  Prose,  as  that  of 
Shakespeare  is  of  our  poetry. 

The  Words  Expansive,  Expressive,  as  here  Applied. 

These  are  selected  as  best  setting  forth  the  peculiar 
nature  of  the  era. 

All  modern  critics  of  English  Letters  have  united 
in  referring  to  this  period  as  one  specially  signalized 
by  its  rich  development  of  prose.  This  is  partly  the 
cause  and  partly  the  effect  of  that  general  enlarge- 
ment which  marks  the  period.  This  rapid  growth  of 
all  that  is  English  had  its  beginning  as  far  back  as 
the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century,  greatly  in- 
creased immediately  after  the  close  of  the  French 
Revolution,  and  it  has  scarcely  yet  reached  its  climax. 
It  was  not,   in  fact,   until  all   earlier   work  had  been 


102  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

done  in  the  way  of  formation,  transition  and  final 
settlement,  that  this  expansive  process  could  begin 
and  increase  so  that,  when  it  did  begin,  it  advanced 
with  such  vigor  and  rapidity.  No  sooner  had  the 
basis  been  well  laid,  in  Addison's  time,  than  the 
superstructure  rapidly  arose.  Everything  was  ready 
in  state  and  social  life,  in  public  enterprise  and 
general  intelligence,  to  foster  and  further  the  expan- 
sion. It  is  simply  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age  that  literature  should  have  taken  on  a  new  life, 
and  equally  natural  that  this  life  should  express  itself 
mainly  in  prose.  All  was  astir.  The  old  ways  were 
too  strait  for  the  new  movements,  and  growth  is  the 
law.  "  We  are  here  in  the  middle  of  a  tide  of  prose," 
wrtes  Masson,  "  unexampled  in  any  former  time. 
What  wealth,  what  variety,  what  versatility !  It  is 
clearly  an  age  in  which  the  most  important  and 
effective  work  of  the  British  mind  devolved  on  Prose." 
Expression  was  the  one  business  before  the  minds  of 
the  educated.  Men  must  give  currency  and  play  to 
the  thought  that  agitated  them. 

This  expansive  character  of  the  era  in  its  prose  is 
seen  in  nothing  more  than  in  the  English  Vocabulary. 
Words  increased  in  rapid  ratio  in  all  departments. 
The  area  covered  by  our  prose  vocabulary  in  Bacon's 
time,  and  even  in  Addison's,  was  by  no  means  equal 
to  the  needs  of  the  writers  in  this  new  era.  The  de- 
mand arose  and  the  supply  came  with  it;  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  present  century  our  language  must 
have  numbered  seventy  thousand  words,  as  distinct 
from  the  fifty  thousand  of  Elizabeth's  time,  and  the 
one  hundred  thousand  of  to-day.  Nor  was  this  verbal 
expansion  purely  verbal.     It  was   the  actual   result 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— EXPANSIVE.    103 

of  the  rapid  enlargement  of  the  English  mind  and 
character. 

This  expression  also  manifests  itself  in  the  growth 
of  Periodical  or  Miscellaneous  Prose,  as  well  as  in 
the  rapid  development  of  historical  and  impassioned 
writing.  These  last  forms  took  such  shape  in  English 
literature  and  became  so  prominent,  that  they  may  be 
said  almost  to  have  arisen  in  this  fourth  period,  as  the 
Novel  began  in  the  days  of  De  Eoe. 

English  historical  and  oratorical  prose  is  fairly 
identified  with  this  era,  while  the  periodical  itself 
grows  to  still  larger  proportions.  Here  we  find  the 
great  schools  of  English  Historians,  Forensic  Writers 
and  general  Essayists.  Each  school  covers  a  spacious 
period,  while  Prose  Fiction  itself  finds  here  its  full- 
est expansion  and  expression  in  the  writings  of 
Djckens  and  his  successors.  The  period,  at  its  open- 
ing, was  fertile  and  ever  enlarging,  and  the  enlarge- 
ment still  continues. 

(A.)    Special  Characteristics  of  this  Prose  Era, 
1.  English  in  Form  and  Spirit. 

In  no  previous  period  was  the  prose  more  dis- 
tinctively native  and  idiomatic.  Better  English  and 
more  of  it  has  never  been  written  than  in  the  Prose 
of  this  age.  What  has  been  said  as  to  the  specially 
modern  character  of  the  age  would  confirm  this  state- 
ment. It  was  so  modern  because  so  English,  drifting 
farther  and  farther  away  from  foreign  models.  It  is 
true  that  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Johnson  and 
his  school,  the  Latin  language  had  considerable  sway 
in  the  literary  speech,  but  it  was  too  strongly  resisted 


104  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

by  the  vast  majority  of  writers  to  find  general 
currency  as  in  former  periods.  It  is,  also,  true  that 
in  the  style  of  such  writers  as  Gibbon  the  old  Anglo- 
French  mania  threatened  once  again  to  overcome  and 
impair  the  native  style.  Still,  this  was  limited  in 
its  scope,  as  was  the  Latin.  The  inevitable  trend  of 
the  age  was  English,  and  the  great  body  of  the  best 
writers  were  in  sympathy  with  the  tendency.  More- 
over, that  special  scientific  study  of  the  native  tongue 
which  began  in  the  previous  era  in  the  persons  of 
Swift  and  Johnson,  now  took  much  larger  form,  in 
obedience  to  the  expansive  spirit  of  the  time.  John- 
son's Dictionary  was  re-edited  in  better  shape,  while 
English  scholars  all  around,  were  looking  as  never 
before,  into  the  meaning  of  the  words  they  were  daily 
using.  It  was  this  very  revival  of  interest  in  the 
study  of  English  that  led  to  that  wonderful  work  now 
doing,  in  this  department,  which  finds  its  best  ex- 
pression in  the  publications  of  the  Earl}7  English  Text 
Society;  in  the  New  Philological  English  Dictionary; 
and  in  the  widening  of  English  courses  in  all  lead- 
ing modern  institutions. 

2.  Literary  Prose. 

We  are  discussing  literary  prose,  and  that  only, 
and  there  is  a  special  sense  in  which  the  prose  of 
some  eras  deserves  this  title.  It  was  so  in  the  Forma- 
tive Period,  and  less  so  in  the  Transitional;  it  was  so 
in  the  Settled  Period,  and  is  still  more  so  in  this  of 
Expansion.  If  we  close  the  period  strictly  at  1860, 
it  is  beyond  question  the  most  distinctively  literary 
of  the  four.  There  is  more  substantial  and  perma- 
nent prose  written  in  this  century  (1760-1860)  on  a 


REPRESENTATIVE     PERIODS.— EXPANSIVE.      105 

purely  literary  basis,  as  distinct  from  that  which 
is  scientific,  technical,  or  professional,  than  in  any 
other  era.  The  authors  were  men  who  understood 
literary  art,  its  methods  and  laws;  who  wrote  in  the 
love  of  their  work  and  for  beneficent  ends;  and  who, 
whatever  their  personal  gains  might  have  been, 
sought  above  all  else  to  express  their  best  powers  and 
elevate  their  fellows. 

This  however,  is  to  be  confessed.  At  the  end  of 
this  century,  (18G0)  the  uprising  of  a  different  spirit 
is  noticeable;  the  subjection  of  the  literary  spirit 
to  what  may  be  termed,  the  commercial,  or  unduly 
practical.  English  Literature  in  all  its  forms  is  fol- 
lowing the  modern  drift  and  is  becoming  secularized. 
Business-like  prose  is  fast  becoming  the  popular  form. 
This  means  the  degradation  of  prose  from  a  purely 
literary  basis  to  a  mercenary  one.  No  careful  obser- 
ver can  fail  to  note  this;  it  has  almost  smothered  our 
higher  poetry  out  of  being:  it  has  materially  impaired 
our  prose.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  literature  and  philosophy 
affect  each  other.  If  we  speak,  however,  of  a  definite 
century  (1760-1860),  of  that,  it  may  be  stated,  that 
the  prose  was  literary  and  elevating.  While  enter- 
ing fully  into  the  onward  movements  of  the  time, 
and  making  itself  a  medium  for  the  expression  of 
modern  thought,  it  still  kept  itself  isolated  as  a 
literary  art,  and  high  above  the  commercial  level  of 
the  time. 

3.  Natural  Prose. 

This  marks  as  nothing  else  thfc  spirit  of  the  prose 
before  us,  and  is  so  prominent  a  characteristic  as  to 
make  it  questionable  whether  in  any  of  the  preceding 


lOo  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

periods  such  naturalness  had  at  all  existed.  Tt  cer- 
tainly did  not  specially  mark  any  of  them.  Despite 
occasional  exceptions,  as  Bunyan  and  Swift,  a  simple 
spontaneous  style  of  English  Prose  did  not  exist 
till  late  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  not  to  be 
found  in  Hooker,  Bacon,  Milton  or  Dryden,  and 
not  in  a  marked  manner,  even  in  the  writers 
of  Queen  Anne.  They  had  other  qualities,  but 
not  this.  When  we  enter  this  period  of  expan- 
sion, the  expansivenes?  is  itself  the  first  mark  of 
its  naturalness.  All  is  free,  informal  and  growthy, 
and  cannot  brook  restrictions  of  any  kind.  The 
forms  of  prose  now  prevalent,  the  subjects  chosen, 
and  the  spirit  pervading  them,  all  reveal  a  literary 
art  founded  on  nature,  and  developed  after  a  nat- 
ural manner. 

Euphuism  is  now  a  thing  quite  unknown,  and  this 
is  the  only  period  of  which  this  can  be  said.  There 
was  no  room  for  the  false,  conceited  and  forced.  This 
naturalness,  however,  as  all  else  that  is  praiseworthy, 
has  its  limit,  and  we  soon  notice  a  slight  departure 
from  it  in  the  line  of  the  formal  and  mechanical. 
Just  as  the  purely  literary  type  of  this  period  is  seen 
to  give  way  more  and  more  to  the  mercenary  and 
commercial;  so  here,  the  natural  gradually  retires  be- 
fore the  approach  of  the  conventional.  This  change 
is  affected  through  the  rise  of  modern  criticism,  tend- 
ing to  the  formal  and  precise  at  the  expense  of  the 
creative.  If  we  pass  the  limits  of  this  period  (1860) 
and  enter  the  era  now  in  progress,  it  is  clearly  mani- 
fest that  English  Prose  is  becoming  less  spontan- 
eous and  more  artificial.  It  is  the  era  of  literary 
criticism. 


REPRESENTA  TIVE  PERIODS. — EXPANSIIVE.      107 

(B.)  Helpful  Agencies   in   this  Era. 

1.  Influence  of  Germany. 

Allusion  has  often  been  made  to  the  rare  advan- 
tages involved  in  the  geographical  position  of  England 
relative  to  the  Continent.  It  is  a  double  advantage 
in  the  way  of  isolation  and  of  contact;  just  far  enough 
removed  to  escape  incessant  friction,  and  yet  near 
enough  to  share  in  all  desirable  benefits.  It  is  im- 
possible but  that  in  thought  and  general  culture  there 
should  be  constant  interchange  of  ideas,  helpful  or 
harmful,  between  Britain  and  the  Continent.  We 
have  noticed  this  as  to  Italian  influence  under  Chau- 
cer and  Henry  VIII,  and  as  to  French  influence,  also, 
at  Chaucer's  time  in  the  shape  of  Norman-French; 
and,  later,  in  the  time  of  Transitional  and  Settled  En- 
glish; while  not  altogether  absent  from  the  period  be- 
fore us.  We  now  speak  of  Germany  in  its  relation  to 
England.  The  influence  was,  to  a  degree,  mutual. 
It  is  well  known  in  what  high  regard  Goldsmith  was 
held  by  Goethe,  and  it  is  also  known  that  from  the 
time  of  Goethe's  entrance  upon  literary  life  in  the  last 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  no  name  has  been 
more  prominently  before  the  German  mind  than 
Shakespeare's.  It  has  occasioned  more  criticism  than 
any  other  and  modified  the  German  drama  more  than 
any  other.  Despite  the  earnest  attempts  of  Benedix 
and  others  to  arrest  this  movement,  it  still  continues, 
and  the  author  of  Hamlet  is  contending  even  now  with 
the  author  of  Faust  for  the  Literary  supremacy  of  the 
Fatherland.  But  we  speak  rather  of  German  influ- 
ence upon  English  Literature  and  English  Prose,  an 


108  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

influence  dating-  from  the  era  now  before  us,  and  ever 
widening-  in  its  area. 

With  the  first  classical  period  in  German  Letters 
(1190-1300)  we  have  little,  if  anything,  to  do,  inas- 
much as  it  occurred  in  our  Middle-English  Period,  pie- 
vious  to  the  Modern  Era. 

The  second  classical  epoch,  however,  (17G0-1830) 
is  almost  coterminous  with  the  epoch  now  under  dis- 
cussion. Hence,  its  influence  would  be  marked.  In 
this  era  are  found  the  most  illustrious  names  in  Ger- 
man Prose  and  Poetry;  it  being  quite  noticeable  that 
the  first  authors,  Goethe,  Schiller  and  Leasing,  were 
alike  famous  in  each  sphere.  Taking  into  account 
the  social  and  historic  relations  of  the  two  nations, 
their  interaction  is  vital  and  extensive.  English 
authors  were  aware  of  the  vast  resources  over  the 
Channel,  and  went  thither  in  numbers,  to  return  with 
precious  spoil.  Coleridge,  in  1798,  is  a  member  of  the 
University  at  Gottingen,  and  deeply  absorbed  in  Ger- 
man studies  as  related  to  modern  thought  and  En- 
glish Letters.  On  his  return  to  England,  he  devotes 
himself  to  the  translation  of  portions  of  Schiller,  and 
calls  the  special  attention  of  British  scholar!-!  to  the 
prevailing  philosophy  of  Germany.  So  as  to  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  poet  and  prose  writer.  He  became 
thoroughly  aroused  by  reason  of  the  newly  awakened 
interest  in  German  literature  prevalent  at  Edinburgh, 
and,  following  the  example  of  others,  translated  into 
English  some  of  the  best  productions  of  Goethe. 
Shelley,  the  poet,  translated  from  Faust;  while  such 
authors  as  Southey,  and  Wordsworth,  acknowledge 
and  express  something  of  the  new  impulse  from  over 
the  sea. 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— EXPANSIVE       109 

If  it  be  asked,  how  this  influence  was  helpful  to 
English  thought  and  prose,  it  may  be  noted: 

(a)  That  the  helpfulness  lay  in  the  mere  union  of 
these  two  types  of  mind,  so  aocordant  and  yet  so 
different.  The  bias  of  the  one  was  toward  the  serious 
and  practical ;  that  of  the  other  was  as  strong  toward 
the  liberal  and  speculative.  Literature  and  philoso- 
phy, alike,  needed  the  combination.  It  was  the 
quickening  influence  of  that  intellectual  nation  that 
England  needed,  and  it  was  happily  at  hand  just 
when  this  expansive  era  could  receive  it  and  use  it. 
Whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  critical  character  of 
the  German  mind  and  authorship,  it  must  be  conceded 
that  in  its  very  criticism  it  is  original  and  not  imita- 
tive, stimulating  and  not  repressive.  More  than  at 
any  period  since,  it  was  natural,  suggestive  and 
awakening.  It  was  in  Germany  just  what  the  native 
literature  was  at  home. 

(b)  The  emotive  or  impassioned  character  of  this  in- 
fluence on  English  Prose  was  an  advantage.  A  cas- 
ual reference  to  history  will  reveal  this  element. 
One  of  the  most  conspicuous  conflicts  in  German  Let- 
ters was  that  represented  by  the  names  of  Gottsched 
and  Bodmer. 

Before  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  Opitz  and  his  fol- 
lowers had  made  a  kind  of  beginning  in  the  direction 
of  a  truly  natural  literature.  Nearly  a  century  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  this  work  was  reopened,  through 
the  special  medium  of  literary  unions.  Here  we  meet 
the  two  historical  schools  of  Leipsic  and  of  Zurich, 
and  we  note  that  the  one  oontended  for  the  literature 
of  form;  the  other,  for  the  literature  of  spirit  and 
of  power.     The  one,  was  in  the  interests  of  imitation 


110  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

and  of  culture  based  on  Gallic  models;  the  other,  on 
behalf  of  passion  and  inspiration  based  on  natural 
feeling  and  English  models.  It  was  the  old  struggle 
of  letter  and  spirit,  and  alike  in  Germany  and  in  En- 
gland the  victory  was  on  the  behalf  of  the  natural. 

In  speaking  of  the  reciprocal  influence  of  these  two 
literatures,  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  German  is  always 
kept  subordinate.  In  this  respect  there  is  a  marked 
difference  between  this  foreign  influence  and  that  of 
France  in  earlier  days,  in  that  the  English  was  then 
subordinate.  Whatever  the  effect  of  German  Letters 
in  England,  our  literature  remained  English  in  speech, 
personality  and  product.  The  process  was  assimila- 
tive, and  not  imitative.  The  question  may  justly  be 
raised  whether  such  German  influence  was  altogether 
foreign,  in  that  there  is  a  common  Teutonic  lineage, 
and  the  forefathers  of  each  people  dwelt  together 
upon  the  Elbe  and  Weser.  The  fond  dream  of  Goethe 
as  to  a  universal  literature  may  not  be  within  the 
possibility  of  realization.  The  prophecy  of  Milton, 
that  the  time  is  coming  when  the  literatures  of  Ger- 
many, England  and  America  will  be  one,  is  not 
altogether  improbable.  However  this  may  be,  the 
influence  of  Germany  on  English  Prose  in  this  period 
of  prose  expansion  was  a  large  and  healthful  one, 
and  cannot  be  overlooked  by  any  one  who  aims  to 
give  a  true  account  of  the  agencies  at  work  upon  it. 

2.     Political  Agitation. 

Long  before  these  agitations  expressed  themselves 
in  the  definite  form  of  civil  revolution  in  England, 
they  were  at  work  in  the  heart  of  Europe.  The 
erratic  Rousseau  did  not  have  reference  to  his  own 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS. — EXPANSIVE.      11! 

country,  simply,  when  he  wrote   "We  are  drawing 
near  to  a  state  of  crisis,  an  age  of  revolution."    Such 
a  period  of  unrest  was  far  too  apparent  in  the  gather- 
ing of  its  forces   to   be   concealed;  all   Europe   was 
practically   concerned.     As  far   back  as  the  Roman 
Empire  it  began,  and  its  course  can  be  traced  more 
or  less  clearly  all  along  the  line  of  Continental  and 
of  English  History.     It   is   the  earnest  struggle  be- 
tween the  old  and  the  new,  between  royal  prerogative 
and    popular    privilege.       It   is    seen    in    the    early 
struggle   between  Saxon  and  Norman;  at  the  time, 
also,  of  the  Great  Charter  wrested  from  the  King  at 
Runny  mede;    in    the    Reformation    at    the    time    of 
Elizabeth;  in  the  Great  Rebellion  of  1640,  the  age  of 
Cromwell;  and  in  the  Revolution  of  1688,  when  for 
the  first  time  general  and  satisfactory  results  were 
reached  in  the  line  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.     So 
was  it  in  France,  and  so,  across  the  Atlantic  in  our 
own  country;  and  the  question  of  that  hour  is  still 
the    question    of    Monarchical    tyranny    or    Popular 
Rights.      However  important  the  first  English  Refor- 
mation may  have  been  in  its  moral  aspects,  it  may 
justly  be  said  of  this  second  one,  that  the  issues  it 
involved    were    more   varied,  practical  and  popular. 
It  established  the  modern  era  of  the  rights  of  man. 
The  point  of  special  interest  in  our  discussion,  there- 
fore,   is  that  this   agitation    had    an  immediate  and 
laatjng  influence  on  English   Prose,  and  most  especi- 
ally  at  this  period  of   its  enlargement.      Hence,   we 
find  the  leading  authors  of  the  time  acknowledging 
its  power.     Wordsworth  was  a  traveler  in  France  at 
the  very  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  comes  fully  into 
sympathy  with  the  general  movement.     Coleridge  is 


112  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

at  Bristol,  lecturing  on  politios;  Southey,  radical  and 
conservative  in  turn,  wrote  and  spoke  on  the  ques- 
tions of  the  hour;  while  the  further  we  go  on  in  the 
history  of  this  period  through  the  times  of  De  Quincey, 
Macaulay,  and  the  British  Orators,  the  more  distinc- 
tive is  this  influence  of  civil  mattera  in  literary 
methods.  There  are  some  special  forms  of  helpful- 
ness in  which  this  period  of  public  agitation  expressed 
itself,  as  related  to  the  growth  of  English  Prose. 

(a)  In  that  England's  attitude  toward  France  was 
a  formal  protest  against  the  further  entrance  and 
reign  of  Gallic  influence.  It  was  the  home  feeling 
opposed  to  foreign  intrusion,  not  because  it  was 
foreign  but  because  it  was  Gallic  rather  than 
Teutonic.  England  regarded  France,  at  this  time, 
as  the  most  dangerous  enemy  to  her  peace  and 
the  peace  of  Europe.  From  the  declaration  of  the  war 
against  Prussia  in  1790,  to  the  battle  of  Waterloo 
in  1815,  the  revolution  was  in  progress.  In  1793,  war 
was  declared  against  England,  and  the  strife  was 
maintained  up  to  the  Peace  of  Amiens  in  1802. 
There  could  be  no  sympathy  between  the  two 
peoples,  politically  or  intellectually.  The  persistency 
with  which  England  sought  to  humble  France  was 
the  measure  of  that  deep  revulsion  of  feeling  on 
the  part  of  English  authors  against  the  future  imita- 
tion of  French  models  in  literature.  English  Prose 
Writers  above  all,  spoke  and  wrote  against  the 
principle,  and  the  tide  of  Gallic  influence  was  stayed. 

(b)  English  Prose  was  now  greatly  benefited  in 
that  the  issues  at  stake  were  urgent  and  practical, 
just  such  issues  as  belonged  to  the  department  of 
prose,  rather  than  poetry.     In  all  this  struggle,  there 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS.— EXPANSIVE.      113 

was  a  deep  emotive  element  finding  its  best  expres- 
sion in  that  large  volume  of  impassioned  prose  that 
appeared  at  the  time. 

Authors  wrote  in  practical  ways  for  practical  ends, 
and  had  but  little  time  for  paraphrase  or  indirect 
address.  The  Augustan  Age  of  Settled  English 
Prose  has  been  called  Popular.  So  it  was,  but  in  a  far 
narrower  sense  from  a  literary  point  of  view  than  is 
true  of  this  period.  That  was  the  people's  era,  up  to 
the  limits  of  possibility  in  such  an  age,  when  the  old 
restrictions  in  church  and  state  were  still  to  a  degree 
influential.  Now,  all  is  widened,  and  healthfully  free. 
The  very  word,  people,  has  taken  on  a  new  meaning, 
and  the  literature  responds  to  the  enlarging  process. 

(c)  Benefit  is  found  in  the  very  changes  them- 
selves. The  spirit  of  inquiry  was  astir  in  all  the 
departments  of  human  thought,  In  Natural  Science, 
the  work  of  the  Koyal  Society,  founded  in  the  days 
of  Newton  and  of  Boyle,  was  prosecuted  with  new 
zeal.  In  Theology,  there  were  special  discussions 
by  Clarke,  Warburton  and  Butler.  In  Adam  Smith's 
"Wealth  of  Nations"  Social  Science  may  be  said  to 
have  taken  its  origin.  It  was  followed  by  the  "  Frag- 
ments "  of  Bentham  and,  later,  by  the  works  of  Malthus 
and  Ricardo.  In  Political  Science,  Ferguson  wrote 
a  "  History  of  Civil  Society; "  while  Burke  in  various 
pamphlets  gave  his  views  on  matters  of  State  policy. 
In  Jurisprudence,  Blackstone  was  writing  his  fa- 
mous Commentary;  Burke  and  Blair,  Alison  and  Jef- 
freys were  educating  the  people  in  the  principles  of 
aesthetic  art;  while  Hume  and  Smollett,  Robertson 
and  Gibbon  were  penning  their  celebrated  historical 
t  realises. 


114  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Iii  the  sphere  of  mental  and  moral  philosophy, 
this  spirit  of  inquiry  and  expression  was  especially 
manifest. 

Hume  wrote  his  "  Inquiry  concerning  Human  Un- 
derstanding."    Fifteen    years    later,  Reid     followed 
with  his  "  Inquiry  into  the  Human  Mind,  "  his  labors 
being  ably  supplemented  by  Stewart  and  the  Scottish 
School.      From   France,  Locke's  philosophy    was   re- 
turning with  some  foreign  perversions  to  which  were 
added  the  dangerous   theories   of  Bolingbroke    and 
Rosseau.     Early  in  the  century,   Berkeley  had  given 
to  the  world  his   "  Ideal  Philosophy."     Toward  the 
middle  of    the  century    Hartley  appeared  with   his 
"Philosophy  of  Association";  while  near  the  close 
of  the  era  were  seen  together  the  skeptical  system  of 
Gibbon,  the  rationalism  of  Paine,  and  the  gross  ma- 
terialism of  Priestly.      In  the  line  of  foreign  philo- 
sophy,  as  bearing   on    British    thought,   there  were 
two    sets    of   influence.     The    one    was    started    and 
maintained  by  the  critical  discussions  of  Kant;  the 
other,   by  the  Encyclopedists  of  France   who  began 
with   doubt  and    ended  with  the  bold  denial  of  all 
moral  truth.     Catching  its  spirit  from  the  teachings 
of  Voltaire,  it  desired  to  construct  a  system  fully  in 
keeping  with  the  reorganizing  spirit   of  the   time. 
All   departments  of  thoughts  were  included.     Born 
out  of  the  bosom  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  was 
to  be  its  worthy  representative  as  opposed  to  all  that 
was  past;  while  in  and  through  it  all,  was  the  mani- 
fest preference   of  the  sensual   to  the  spiritual.     In 
Rhort,  the  discovery  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  was 
the   governing  idea  of  the  time;   and  just  here  we 
note  the  accordance  of  the  era  with  the  character  of 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS. — EXPANSIVE.      115 

the  prose.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  opportune. 
The  prose  received  just  what  it  needed, — expansion 
ofjdea  and  form ;  and  was  enabled,  while  receiving 
this  enlargement  from  the  age,  to  give  to  it  in  time 
fitting  literary  expression. 

Literature  and  life  were  in  fullest  harmony;  and, 
if  in  reading  the  stirring  prose  of  this  period  we  note 
the  grounds  of  this  characteristic,  they  are  seen  in 
that  awakened  spirit  of  free  investigation  prominent 
in  all  lands  and  ever  diffusing  itself  into  wider  areas. 

3.     In  the  Revival  of  First  and  Middle- English. 

This  movement  is  not  confined  to  the  century 
before  us.  In  Wyclif's  time,  authors  were  looking 
back  to  Alfred,  as  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  they  were 
reverting  to  Wyclif.  Even  Milton  went  so  far  as  to 
write  a  history  of  Early  England  for  the  benefit  of  his 
time.  Dry  den,  critical  and  classical  as  he  was,  ever 
referred  his  English  readers  to  the  pages  of  the  old 
authors.  Ever  since  the  Baconian  period,  such  a 
return  to  earlier  eras  is  noteworthy.  Neither  the 
French  influence  of  the  Restoration,  nor  the  classical 
influence  of  the  Augustan  Age  could  altogether 
annul  it;  until  in  the  age  before  us,  it  revived  in 
fuller  power  than  ever  before.  Especially  manifest 
in  the  sphere  of  poetry  as  induced  by  the  labors  of 
Ritson,  Percy  and  Warton,  it  was  also  seen  in  our 
prose.  The  age  preceding  had  been  one  of  formal 
prose  and  literary  tendencies  somewhat  imitative. 
The  demand  was  for  a  change  in  the  line  of  natural- 
ness; and  the  people  hailed  with  delight  the  return 
to  what  they  regarded  a  more  healthful  time.  Au- 
thors were   now  anxious  as  never  before  to  reveal 


116  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

the  inherent  independence  of  English  Letters  and 
thereby  to  lessen  foreign  influence.  The  age  was  to 
be  English,  out  and  out.  The  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  not  to  be  confined  to  civil  matters  and 
American  life.  English  Prose  Authors  felt  most 
deeply  that  just  to  the  degree  in  which  the  era  was 
expansive,  impassioned  and  modern,  just  to  that 
degree  was  there  needed  a  style  of  prose  that  was 
Euglish  in  spirit  and  purpose. 

General  Inferences  as  to  Periods. 

1.   Comparative  Limits  of  the  Periods. 

If  we  compare  the  four  representative  eras  of 
Modern-English  Prose  now  mentioned  with  the  First 
and  Middle-English  eras  preceding,  as  to  the  time 
included  in  each,  we  note  a  suggestive  descending 
series, — five  centuries  (673-1164),  four  centuries 
(1154-1561),  and  three  centuries  (1560-1860 +  ).  It 
is  a  good  illustration  of  the  inverse  ratio  of  periods  to 
product.  As  worthy  as  was  the  prose  work  of  Alfred 
and  Wvclif  and  others  of  their  times,  it  was  as  noth- 
ing  in  comparison  with  that  unexampled  display  of 
literary  power  manifested  in  the  Modern  Era. 

As  far  as  the  respective  limits  of  the  four  modern 
eras  themselves  are  concerned,  it  is  sugge-stive  that, 
as  the  first  and  fourth  are  included  each  in  a  century, 
the  second  and  third  alike  are  included  in  a  half 
century.  The  longer  periods  are  both  in  position 
and  character  by  far  the  most  important. 

2.   Comparative  Amount  of  Prose  and  Poetry. 

As  far  as  the  introductory  eras  are  concerned, 
there  is,  in  First-English,   more  extant  poetry  than 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— EXPANSIVE      117 

prose.  In  Middle-English,  the  adjustment  is  more 
nearly  equal,  with  the  difference  in  favor  of  prose. 

If  we  compare  the  four  modern  periods,  they  may 
be  classified,  as  before,  in  pairs.  The  first  and  second, 
are  in  the  main,  periods  of  poetry;  although  in  each, 
prose  becomes  more  and  more  dominant,  until  at  the 
close  it  prevails. 

The  third  and  fourth  periods  are  distinctively 
prose,  the  third  being  so  to  a  very  marked  degree, 
while  in  the  fourth  there  is  a  more  equal  adjustment 
of  quantity;  the  period  opening  with  a  striking  poetic 
revival,  but  ever  developing,  as  it  goes  on,  more  and 
more  pi'ose  tendency  and  product,  till  prose  prevails. 

Taking  the  entire  contents  of  the  literature  into 
account,  there  is  a  remarkable  similarity  as  to  the 
frequency  of  these  two  forms  of  literary  expression. 
If  a  decision  must  be  given,  the  superiority  is  un- 
doubtedly on  the  side  of  prose. 

3.    Unity  of  Periods. 

The  more  we  subject  these  periods  to  close  exam- 
ination, the  more  evident  will  their  historical  con- 
tinuity appear.  Amid  great  variety  of  epoch  and 
characteristic,  there  will  always  appear  the  presence 
of  a  definite  literary  law;  so  that  while  the  individ- 
uality of  each  epoch  is  preserved,  their  unity  is  just 
as  manifest.  It  is  this  principle  that  confirms  the 
view  of  most  literary  critics,  that  in  English  Prose, 
as  in  poetry,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  sequerice;  a 
graduated  historical  progress  throughout;  on  such 
wise  that  the  line  of  it  may  be  easily  followed  from 
its  beginning  in  the  sixteenth  century  to  the  present. 
No  true  interpretation  of  English  Prose  can  be  given 


118  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

if  such  a  principle  is  overlooked.  It  is  for  this 
reason  mainly,  that  all  periods  are  found  more  or 
less  to  overlap  each  other  and  defy  any  absolutely 
fixed  distinction  of  dates  and  writings.  We  have 
presented  these  periods  as  Formative,  Transitional, 
Settled  and  Expansive;  representing  respectively, 
the  Elizabethan,  Stuart,  Augustan  and  Georgian  eras. 
These  classifications,  however,  can  be  approximate 
and  relative  only.  Were  this  law  of  historical 
method  and  unity  absent,  the  decisions  would  be 
formal  and  mechanical.  No  one  can  be  dogmatic  as 
to  the  precise  limits  of  Elizabethan  Prose,  or  tell  us 
just  when  the  Tbestoration  influences  end.  "  In  the 
literature  of  any  people,"  says  Morley,  "  we  perceive 
under  all  contrasts  of  form  produced  by  variable 
social  influences,  the  one  natural  character  from  first 
to  last."  In  no  literature  is  this  more  apparent  than 
in  English.  If  the  question  be  raised  as  to  what  this 
principle  is  that  unifies  our  prose  periods,  it  might 
be  answered  in  Baconian  phrase, — "  to  secure  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  relief  of  man's  estate."  It 
evinces  the  ever  deepening  purpose  to  express  the 
content  of  the  English  mind  for  ethical  and  humane 
ends,  to  gather  an  amount  of  literary  product  together 
in  which  the  moral  and  the  practical  shall  be  to- 
gether embodied  and  expressed. 

He  who  sees  most  clearly  this  unifying  element  of 
English  Prose  will  be  its  best  expositor  to  others. 

4.  Progressive  Development. 

Mr.  Saintsbury,  in  his  "  Life  of  Dryden,"  insists 
upon  calling  attention  to  the  comparative  immaturity 
of  Elizabethan  Prose — what  we  have  termed,  Forma- 


REPRESENTATIVE    PERIODS.— EXPANSIVE.      119 

tive.  After  stating  that  "  Prose  is  the  necessary 
vehicle  of*  thought,"  he  adds:  "  Up  to  Dry  den's  time 
no  such  generally  available  vehicle  had  been  at- 
tempted or  achieved  by  any  one."  He  goes  on  to 
confirm  this  by  a  reference  to  the  unnatural  con- 
structions and  phraseology  of  those  Baconian  days. 
Other  critics  speak  in  a  similar  strain.  Though  often 
stated  in  extreme  form,  there  is  historical  truth  in 
this  view,  and  it  is  just  what  is  to  be  expected.  The 
very  term — Formative — as  applied  to  this  first  period 
implies  this;  and  the  more  critically  that  style  of 
prose  is  studied,  the  more  manifest  it  is,  that  it  marks 
a  beginning  of  development  rather  than  a  completion. 
As  soon  as  we  pass  to  the  second  or  Transitional 
period,  despite  all  deviations,  there  is  a  progress 
visible.  "  A  new  prose,"  writes  Brooke,  "  of  greater 
force  of  thought  and  of  a  simpler  style  than  the 
Elizabethan,  arose."  Whatever  it  was  or  was  not,  it 
was  more  varied  and  flexible  than  any  previous  form. 
When  we  pass  to  the  Settled  and  Expansive  periods, 
this  gradual  growth  of  our  prose  is  so  apparent  as  to 
need  no  exposition.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  special  mark 
of  the  two  eras,  and  seems  more  and  more  to  exhibit 
that  central  law  of  unity  already  noted.  It  was 
because  there  was  unity  that  the  progress  was  conse- 
cutive and  unbroken,  while  this  in  turn  intensified 
the  unity  itself. 

5.    The  Period  and  the  Writer. 

As  a  rule,  the  respective  writers  of  English  Prose 
at  all  eminent  as  models,  were  in  vital  sympathy 
with  the  age  in  which  they  lived  and  wrote.  What- 
ever the  general  bearing  of  their  authorship  might 


120  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

be,  they  had  a  special  meaning  at  and  for  the  time. 
It  was  on  this  principle  that  Bacon  wrote  his  Essays; 
Hooker,  his  Polity;  Milton,  his  political,  ecclesiastical 
and  social  treatises;  Swift,  his  partisan  pamphlets; 
Addison,  his  Spectator;  and  the  later  British  Essayists, 
their  various  works.  They  not  only  "held  the  mirror 
up  to  nature,"  but,  as  the  men  of  Issachar,  "  they 
had  understanding  of  their  times."  They  gave  to  the 
"body  of  the  time  its  form  and  pressure."  They  and 
their  respective  periods  exercised  mutual  influence 
upon  each  other,  not  to  the  extent,  indeed,  which 
Mr.  Taine  would  hold  in  defense  of  his  special  theory, 
but  still  to  an  important  extent,  so  as  to  mark  them 
as  in  one  age  and  not  in  another.  They  were  suffi- 
ciently in  sympathy  with  their  time  to  represent  it 
and  meet  its  needs;  and  yet,  not  so  fully  subjected  to 
it  as  to  make  their  prose  local  and  narrow  in  its 
range.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  such  works 
as  Bacon's  "Advancement  of  Learning,"  and  Addi- 
son's "  Spectator"  are  still  so  largely  read,  despite 
their  local  occasion  and  purport.  They  wrote  for 
their  age,  mainly,  and,  yet,  for  other  times,  also. 

So  vital  is  this  relation  of  writer  to  epoch,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  conceive  how  Hooker  could  have  written 
in  any  other  age  than  the  Formative  one;  or  Dryden 
in  any  other  than  than  the  Transitional;  or  Johnson 
in  any  other  than  the  Settled;  or  Macaulay  in  any 
other  than  the  Expansive.  There  is  an  historical 
and  a  logical  fitness  in  all  this,  and  the  classification 
of  eras  is  a  virtual  classification  of  writers.  It  would 
scarcely  be  too  much  to  add  that  the  principle  of 
gradual  progress  is  apparent  even  here,  so  that 
Macaulay  may  be  said  to  have  been  the   exponent 


REPRESENTATIVE  PERIODS.— EXPANSIIVE.      121 

of  English  Prose  in  his  age,  more  fully  than  is  true 
of  any  previous  author  in  any  particular  age  that  he 
represented.  Moreover,  in  the  proportion  in  which 
a  writer  is  leading  and  eminent,  in  that  proportion, 
precisely,  may  he  be  said  to  be  the  true  exponent 
of  the  literary  character  of  his  time. 


PART    SECOND. 


PART    SECOND. 

REPRESENTATIVE    LITERARY 
FORMS. 


Literary  Forms. 

As  indicated  in  the  Preface,  the  term,  literary,  is 
emphatic  throughout  the  present  treatise  as  distinct 
from  any  other  terms  with  which  it  may  be  con- 
founded. By  Forms,  in  this  connection,  is  meant 
therefore,  exclusively,  Literary  Forms  as  distinct 
from  any  other  kinds  of  English  Prose  possible  to 
an  author, — scientific,  speculative,  technical.  Prose 
treatises  on  science  or  metaphysics,  or  any  of  the 
professional  departments,  would  thus  be  excluded 
from  the  strictly  literary  sphere,  and'find  their  place 
more  fittingly  in  the  narrower  area  of  the  technical 
and  special.  What  has  been  generally  termed,  the 
department  of  Belles  Lettres  in  the  widest  and  high- 
est sense  of  the  term  covers  the  main  scope  of  what 
is  here  intended,  and  distinguishes  these  forms  from 
those  which  belong  to  other  provinces. 

The  Word,   Forms. 

In  the  province  of  rhetorical  and  literary  discussion, 
this  word  is  used  as  synonymous  with,  modes,  and 
may  be  so  interpreted  in    the  discussion   before  us. 


126  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

They  are  the  modes  or  ways  in  which  literary  art 
expresses  itself  and,  as  to  our  purpose,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  prose.  Nor  is  the  word,  mode,  to  be  so  em- 
phasized here  as  to  make  it  sharply  distinct  from 
subject  matter,  and  thus  reduce  literary  expression 
to  a  mere  mechanism.  It  is  the  expression  of  the 
inner  mind  of  the  writer,  and,  though  external,  takes 
its  character  from  that  which  is  beneath  and  behind 
it.  This  part  of  our  subject  will  therefore  t>e^nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  presentation  in  classified  order 
of  those  different  divisions  of  English  Prose  which 
we  find  illustrated  in  English  as  in  all  literatures.  It 
may  here  be  stated,  that  in  the  subsequent  discussion 
of  English  Prose  Style,  as  illustrated  in  our  prose 
authors,  this  study  of  Prose  Forms  will  be  seen  to 
have  been  essential. 

Methods  of  Classification  of  Forms. 

If  we  classify  by  periods  only,  then  we  note  such 
historical  forms  as, — The  Elizabethan,  Stuart,  Augus- 
tan, and  Georgian;  or  using  the  divisions  adopted, 
Formative,  Transitional,  Settled,  and  Expansive 
Forms. 

If  we  classify  by  Authors  only,  there  would  be, — 
Baconian,  Addisonian,  Johnsonian  Forms,  and  so  on, 
throughout  the  list  of  leading  writers. 

If  by  quality  of  Writing,  or  style  proper,  there  follow 
such  forms  as, — the  Clear,  the  Forcible,  the  Elegant, 
the  Suggestive. 

If  by  process  and  the  object  merely,  we  have, — The 
Didactic,  Logical,  Emotional,  and  Persuasive  Forms. 
These  are  not  only  possible  classifications,  but  have 
in  turn  been  adopted  and  applied  by  literary  critics; 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.  127 

and  there  is  in  each  of  them  some  element  of  worth 
as  indicating  a  method  of  study.  The  difficulty  is 
that  any  one  of  them  by  itself  is  too  restrictive 
and  mechanical — not  wide  enough  to  embrace  those 
great  divisions  of  prose  expression  in  which  the  au- 
thor can  freely  move.  We  shall  submit  a  classifica- 
tion essentially  including  all  the  principles  thus  far 
mentioned,  and,  as  we  believe,  quite  including  all 
representative  forms  thus  far  illustrated  in  our  literary 
history. 

The  one  exclusive  principle  of  the  classification 
we  need  not  state,  inasmuch  as  there  is  none  suffi- 
ciently broad.  In  the  divisions  given,  however, 
special  reference  will  be  made  to  process,  quality,  and 
ohject,  as  giving  the  main  basis  for  a  full  statement 
of  the  Forms  of  Literary  Prose. 

The  true  classification  is  as  follows: 

I. — Historical  or  Narrative  Prose. 

II. — Poetic  (or  Descriptive)  Prose. 
III. — Philosophical  or  Didactic  Prose. 
IV. — Oratorical  or  Impassioned  Prose. 

V. — Miscellaneous  or  Periodical  Prose. 

It  will  be  our  purpose  to  discuss  each  of  these  in 
the  order  stated,  making  the  discussion  brief  and  yet 
sufficiently  full  to  give  an  intelligent  understanding 
of  the  forms  themselves  and  as  they  are  related  to 
the  subjects  that  precede  and  follow. 


CHAPTER   I. 
HISTOEICAL  OE  NABKATIVE  PKOSE. 

Contents. 

This  important  division  of  English  Prose  may 
be  said  to  include,  strictly,  History  Proper  and 
Biography. 

What  are  termed — Annals  or  Chronicles,  are  the 
essential  basis  or  material  of  this  department,  but  in 
the  literary  sense  of  the  term, — Historical  Prose, — do 
not  fall  legitimately  under  it.  As  mere  collections 
of  dates,  facts  and  incidents,  they  have  no  rhetori- 
cal character  whatever,  and  are  simply  means  to  the 
production  of  prose  proper.  They  sustain  the  same 
relation  to  History  that  boards  and  bricks  do  to  a 
building.  They  must  be  put  into  symmetrical  form  and 
position.  Even  when  such  Annals  take  so  extensive 
a  form  as  in  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  "  or  in  the 
"  Outlines  of  Universal  History,"  they  are  not  entitled 
to  the  name  and  rank  of  History  Proper,  in  that  the 
material  is  not  presented  in  consecutive  or  narrative 
form,  but  simply  as  an  accumulation  of  facts  without 
comment  or  enlargement. 

So,  as  to  Memoirs:  At  times,  they  assume  a  some- 
what lengthened  form,  and  combine  the  national  with 
the  personal  element,  as  in  "  The  Memoirs  of  the  Times 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS. — HISTORICAL.       129 

of  George  IV.,"  by  Queen  Caroline;  or  "  The  Historical 
Memoirs  of  the  Church  of  France,"  by  Butler.  Still, 
they  are  Memoirs,  and  not  connected  History  with  a 
rhetorical  order  and  development  of  thought. 

Memoirs  are  related  to  Biography  as  Annals  are  to 
History,  constituting  its  material.  They  are  neces- 
sarily fragmentary  and  brief,  and  serve  their  purpose 
as  ministrant  to  the  forms  of  prose  proper.  Hence, 
they  have  no  strictly  literary  character,  and  do  not 
fall  within  the  limits  of  our  discussion.  They  are 
personal  annals,  and  as  biography  is  inferior  to  His- 
tory Proper,  Memoirs  are  inferior,  even  as  material, 
to  Annals  proper. 

There  is  a  popular  and  vague  use  of  the  words, 
Annals  and  Memoirs;  as  in  MacDonald's  "  Annals  of  a 
Quiet  Neighborhood  " ;  and  Pope's  "  Memoirs  of  Martin 
Scriblerus."  With  this  use  of  the  terms,  however, 
we  have  nothing,  at  present,  to  do.  In  the  depart- 
ment of  Fiction  and  Satire  and  Humorous  Discourse, 
it  is  in  their  wider  and  accommodating  sense  that  such 
technical  terms  are  generally  used. 

Historical  Prose,  as  literary,  may  be  Said  to  include, 
therefore,  the  two  classes  specified,  Biography  and 
History  Proper. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

This  is  personal  history, — the  record  or  account  of 
human  life  as  expressed  in  the  individual  rather  than 
in  the  nation  or  race.  It  is  in  the  strictest  sense 
a  distinctive  form  of  historical  prose,  in  that  it  is 
continuous,  logically  progressive,  and  unlike  the  me- 
moirs, a  complete  presentation  of  the  subject  in  hand. 
As  to  its  further  relation  to  History  Proper,  it  differs 


130  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

mainly  as  to  its  comparative  brevity.  This  limitation 
arises  naturally  from  its  personal  character.  In  the 
limits  assigned  it,  however,  it  is  unique  and  symme- 
trical as  a  form. 

From  these  two  features,  personality  and  brevity, 
are  derived  the  two  main  matters  noteworthy  re- 
garding Biography,  its  Interest  and  Clearness.  It 
has  to  the  reader  all  the  attraction  of  life-like  reality 
as  to  its  subject  matter,  and  of  literary  simplicity  as 
to  its  expression.  Being  the  history  of  a  person,  it 
adds  to  the  historical  something  of  present  vividness; 
and  being  brief,  it  seldom  wearies  or  perplexes.  So 
long  as  Pope's  statement  holds  good  that  "  The  prop- 
er study  of  mankind  is  man,"  so  long  will  Biog- 
raphy fill  a  large  place  in  the  general  reading  of 
the  educated  public.  It  is  almost  needless  to  state 
that  Autobiography  is  a  life  written  by  the  author 
himself. 

Remarks. 

(a)  There  are  many  works  which  are  biographical 
in  character,  and  yet  are  not  strictly  Biographies. 
They  have  the  personal  element  in  them  as  distinc- 
tive, and  yet  so  in  connection  with  other  elements, 
historical  and  general,  that  the  special  form  is  some- 
what obscured.  Such  books  as  Field's  "Yesterday 
with  Authors,"  or  Knight's  "  Half  Hours  with  Au- 
thors," are  of  this  character.  They  embrace  a  series 
of  authors,  and  present  a  kind  of  combination  of 
literary  history  and  biography. 

We  are  becoming  familiar,  in  our  day,  with  the 
phrase,  "  Life  and  Times,"  of  which  Masson,  in  his 
14  Biography  of  Milton,"  has  given  us  the  finest  ex- 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— HISTORICAL.       131 

ample  in  English  Prose.  In  such  volumes,  the  author 
is  not  careful  to  restrict  himself  to  the  poet  or  prose 
writer  whom  he  is  discussing,  but  introduces  us  to 
the  history  of  his  age,  the  peculiar  surroundings  in 
which  his  youth  and  later  years  were  passed,  and 
shows  us  the  close  relations  of  the  man  to  his 
circumstances. 

(b)  This  biographical  method  of  composition  is 
applied,  at  times,  to  subjects  other  than  persons, — to 
states  and  nations  in  their  individual  character  as 
political  bodies  marked,  respectively,  by  well  defined 
features.  They  are  viewed  as  personalities,  and  so 
presented.  The  origin,  progress,  and  varied  expres- 
sions of  their  civic  life  are  given,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  individual  life.  Such  a  series  as  "The  American 
Commonwealths"  is  a  good  example  of  this  peculiar 
phase  of  historical  writing.  Such  forms  may  be  said 
to  mark  the  line  of  union  between  biography  proper 
and  history  proper,  and  to  have  the  main  element 
of  each. 

(c)  Prominence  in  Modem  Times. 

No  careful  observer  of  the  growth  and  variations 
of  literary  prose  product  will  fail  to  note  the  rapid 
increase  of  biographies  and  biographical  writing.  In 
no  particular  is  this  more  apparent  than  in  the  large 
number  of  serial  or  collective  biographies  found  in 
our  libraries.     Such  as  the  following  will  illustrate: 

Johnson's  "  Lives  of  the  Poets,"  Strickland's 
"  Queens  of  England,"  Thackeray's  "  Four  Georges," 
Thackeray's  "English  Humorists,"  Higginson's  "En- 
glish Statesmen,"  Morris'  "American  Statesmen," 
Morley's  "English  Men  of  Letters  Series,"  Warner's 
"American  Men  of  Letters  Series." 


132  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

These  examples  will  suffice  to  show  the  increasing 
number,  interest  and  value  of  these  serials,  and  their 
tendency  to  assume  the  form  of  lives  written  by 
various  authors  under  the  control  of  a  general 
editor. 

If  in  addition  to  these  collected  biographies,  the 
references  be  to  separate  treatises,  the  number  is  sim- 
ply beyond  recital,  having  representative  expression 
in  such  works  as: 

Boswell's  "Johnson,"  Lockhart's  "Scott,"  Masson's 
"  Milton,"  Stanleys's  "Arnold,"  Forster's  "Dickens," 
Trevelyan's  "•Macaulay,"  Froude's  "  Carlyle." 

(d)     Life  and  Authorship. 

So  vital  is  the  relation  of  an  author's  personal 
character  and  history  to  his  literary  character  as  a 
writer,  that  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  certainly, 
the  one  must  be  known  before  the  other  can  fully  be. 
Masson,  in  his  "British  Novelists,"  refers  to  Words- 
worth as  objecting  to  the  mingling  of  the  biography 
of  an  author  with  the  reading  and  study  of  his  work. 
In  this  opinion  he  opposes  the  Lake  poet,  and  justly. 
Wordsworth  himself,  is  a  conspicuous  example  in 
point. 

Some  authors  indeed,  as  some  men  in  all  spheres, 
seem  to  be  one  thing,  and  express  themselves  as 
another;  but  these  are  few. 

No  student  of  our  literature  can  afford  to  open 
the  pages  of  an  English  author  of  note,  until  he  has 
made  himself  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  life 
and  times  of  the  author.  This  is  especially  impor- 
tant in  prose  discourse,  in  that  poetry  lies  mor  eout- 
side  of  ordinary  thought  and  life,  and  may  be  to  a 
great  extent  quite  independent  of  periods  and  persons. 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS. — HISTORICAL.       133 

HISTORY  PROPER— HISTORICAL  PROSE. 

Meaning. 

The  most  specific  idea  which  this  term  indicates  is 
expressed  in  such  words  as, — civil,  political,  constitu- 
tional. Hume's  "  History  of  England,"  Hallam's 
"  Constitutional  History,"  Bancroft's  "  History  of  the 
United  States,"  are  examples  of  this  application. 
When  not  otherwise  defined,  the  word  means,  a 
record  of  the  founding  and  growth  of  nations;  a 
narration  or  relation  of  the  political  life  of  states  and 
empires.  "An  account  of  facts,  particularly  of  facts 
respecting  nations  and  states"  is  the  definition  given 
by  Webster,  and  is  the  commonly  received  meaning. 

There  is,  however,  a  wider  meaning  which  has  to 
do  more  with  the  etymological  idea  of  the  word  as  a 
narrative  of  events,  or  statement  of  facts,  than  wifeh 
the  subject  matter  involved,  as  civil  or  otherwise. 
In  this  sense,  the  term  may  be  applied  to  any  depart- 
ment of  knowledge  embodied  in  the  form  of  narrative 
or  recital,  rather  than  in  any  one  of  the  other  pos- 
sible forms  that  might  be  used.  Hence,  we  have  the 
following: 

History  of  Literature,  such  as,   Hallam's. 
History  of  Poetry,  such  as,   Warton's. 
History  of  Philosophy,  such  as,  Lewes'. 
History  of  the  English  Language,  such  as,  Marsh's. 
Ecclesiastical  History,  such  as,  Mosheim's. 
History  of  Doctrine,  such  as,  Shedd's,   etc. 

In  the  use  of  this  wider  meaning,  we  are  introduced 
to  a  spacious   area  of  historical    prose,   and  the  re- 


134  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

lations  between  the  narrative  form  of  discourse  and 
all  other  forms,  become  apparent. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  narrower  sense,  as  synony- 
mous with  the  phrase,  Civil  or  Political  History,  that 
the  term  is  mainly  employed.  Even  as  thus  defined 
and  limited,  the  province  it  covers  is  a  broad  and 
inviting  one,  and  fall  of  special  interest  to  the  student 
of  Letters  and  of  English  Prose. 

0 

(A.)  Characteristics  of  Historical  Prose. 

1.  Accuracy  of  Statement. 

There,  must  be  evident  throughout,  a  conscientious 
loyalty  to  the  truth;  a  strict  fidelity  in  the  record  of 
facts.  However  much  personal  opinion  may  vary, 
testimony  is  to  be  impartial.  The  deductions  which 
the  historian  may  draw  from  facts  submitted  to  him 
are  one  thing  and  open  to  difference  of  view; — the 
facts  themselves  are  not  his,  but  belong  to  the  com- 
mon stock  of  truth,  and  must  be  given  as  they  are, 
and  not  otherwise.  History,  as  its  very  etymology 
implies,  is  a  recital  of  past  events,  and  not  the 
origination  of  new  facts. 

2.  Clearness  of  Statement. 

This  is  a  strictly  literary  characteristic  and,  as 
such,  has  to  do  with  the  form  of  expression  as  plain 
or  obscure,  rather  than  with  its  inherent  quality  as 
true  or  false. 

As  clearness  may  be  said  to  be  the  first  quality  of 
writing,  so  there  is  no  province  of  prose  in  which  it 
is  more  needful  than  in  narration.     To  the  extent  in 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— HISTORICAL.       135 

which  history  is  doubtful  as  to  meaning,  it  is  un- 
"eadable,  and  fails  of  its  prime  end. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  most  of  our  leading  his- 
torians have  paid  special  attention  to  the  subject  of 
expression  and  method  in  their  narratives;  and,  in 
order  to  be  understood,  have  introduced  a  great 
degree  of  incident,  figure,  and  poetic  phrase.  This 
is  noteworthy  in  all  readable  historians,  such  as, 
Macaulay  and  Motley. 

3.    Unity  and  Order  of  Statement. 

History  has  often  been  said  to  assume  the  same 
rank  in  prose  discourse  that  the  epic  does  in  poetry. 
Each  is  essentially  narrative,  and  in  each,  the  law 
of  unity  may  be  said  to  be  fundamental.  This  im- 
plies and  demands  that  in  every  "Separate  narrative 
of  events  there  shall  be  a  central,  dominant  event, 
and  that  around  this  as  central,  all  else  shall  be 
grouped  in  the  order  of  relative  worth.  This  is  a 
logical  as  well  as  rhetorical  feature,  and  lifts  the 
whole  department  of  narrative  prose  out  of  the  plane 
of  the  mere  recital  of  events  to  the  higher  plane  of 
the  causal  connection  of  events. 

It  is  simply  the  general  law  of  method  in  discourse 
applied  to  history. 

The  application  of  this  principle  is  especially  diffi- 
cult in  complex  narrative,  as  in  the  history  of  a  na- 
tion in  all  its  periods  and  variations  of  life.  Hence, 
the  small  number  of  histories  of  such  a  country  as 
England,  in  which  the  narrator  has  attempted  to 
cover  the  entire  ground;  and  the  increasing]}'' large 
number  of  those  which  confine  themselves  to  a  separ- 


136  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ate  epoch  or  period,  as  Froude,  Macaulay,  Stanhope, 
Leckey  and  Clarendon. 

Even  when  the  fuller  method  is  applied,  as  by 
Knight  and  Greene,  the  result  is  rather  a  collection 
of  the  histories  of  the  several  epochs  in  one  aggre- 
gate than  a  separate  history  by  itself.  The  applica- 
tion of  this  principle  of  unity  in  any  sphere  is  as  diffi- 
cult as  it  is  important.  To  know  precisely  what  is 
the  central  event  or  class  of  events,  to  adjust  them 
in  right  relations  to  each  other,  and  to  know  the 
definite  border  line  between  minute  detail  and 
generalization,  is  no  small  matter,  and  marks  the 
master. 

4.  Delineation. 

This  has  to  do  with  both,  characters  and  events. 
It  reveals  the  presence  of  the  biographical  element  in 
history  and,  also,  its  relation  as  a  literary  form  to 
other  forms,  as,  the  descriptive.  As  the  word  implies 
it  draws  the  lines  around  the  event  or  person.  It  is 
graphic,  picturesque  and  pictorial,  and  seems  to  lend 
to  the  didactic  element  of  historical  prose  something 
of  that  interest  which  belongs  to  the  less  serious 
forms  of  prose  expression.  Dr.  Lord  in  his  discussion 
of  the  great  Historical  Characters  from  Charlemagne 
down,  presents  a  fine  example  of  this  delineative 
feature.  So  in  Prescott,  Motley,  Headley,  Freeman 
and  Macaulay.  The  historian  who  is  able  to  hold 
it  within  due  limits,  and  to  make  it  subservient  to 
the  great  end  of  history  as  instructive,  proves 
thereby  his  genius  for  narrative  discourse  in  its 
best  forms.  There  is  such  a  faculty  as  the  Historic 
Imagination. 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.-— HISTORICAL.       137 


5.  Simplicity  of  Statement. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  narration  is  the  simplest  as  it 
is  about  the  earliest  form  of  expression  in  prose.  It  is 
common  to  all  ages,  classes  and  peoples.  It  is  the 
natural  form  of  human  utterance — a  telling  of  the 
story  or  fact  with  unconscious  art.  This  simplicity  is 
to  be  preserved  in  all  relations.  When  history  be- 
comes so  complex  or  prosaic  as  to  conceal  or  impair 
it,  in  so  far  it  departs  from  its  normal  type.  It  is  in 
its  primary  conception  "  a  plain  unvarnished  tale,"  a 
speaking  "right  on,"  and  must  be  devoid  of  artifice 
and  studied  attempt  at  display. 

6.    Gravity — Moral  and  Literary. 

History  is  essentially  a  dignified  form  of  discoui'se. 
Its  object  is  instruction  rather  than  entertainment. 
Its  subject  matter  is  fact,  and  its  general  procedure 
orderly  and  serious.  Anything  in  the  line  of  the 
burlesque,  flippant  and  common  is  excluded.  The 
historian  owes  it  to  himself  and  his  theme,  to  keep 
aloof  from  all  that  is  belittling,  and  to  regard  him- 
self as  an  appointed  teacher  of  men.  Judgment 
should  be  apparent  everywhere,  as  superior  to  fancy  or 
frivolity.  Even  in  a  literary  point  of  view  as  to  dic- 
tion, figure  and  general  manner,  the  author  must  rise 
above  all  temptations  to  exceptional  methods,  and 
keop  in  line  with  the  higher  order  of  minds.  Facts 
are  mighty  and  important  as  facts,  and  need  a  care- 
ful handling.  History,  as  a  body  of  prose,  is  well 
preserving  its  character  in  this  particular.  One  of  its 
main  benefits  to  the  student  and  reader  is  in  this  di- 
rection.    Its  effect  is  elevating  and  ethical.     For  this 


138  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

reason,  among  others,  it  might  well  be  substituted  by 
young  men  for  promiscuous  fiction  as  the  staple  of 
their  early  reading. 

(B.)  Methods  of  Historical  Prose 
1.    The  Chronological. 

This  is  essentially  historical  in  that  the  element  of 
time  is  prominent.  It  presents  events  in  temporal 
succession.  More  than  this,  it  is  purely  and  only 
historical.  It  includes  no  other  feature,  as  the  de- 
scriptive, reflective  or  logical.  It  is  a  mere  recita- 
tion of  facts,  without  enlargement  or  inference. 

It  is  the  first  and  simplest  method  of  historical 
prose.  As  stated,  its  extreme  form  is  found  in  the 
works  of  Annalists  and  Chroniclers,  in  Outlines  and 
Schemes.  Apart  from  this,  however,  it  is  expressed 
as  veritable  literary  history  in  those  authors  who  pre- 
sent facts  in  a  connected  form,  and  yet  not  suffi- 
ciently so  to  mark  their  inner  bond  of  relation  or  to 
furnish  an  historical  manner.  Such  writers  always 
follow  the  centuries  in  regular  order,  and  regard  any 
deviation  therefrom  as  contrary  to  law.  Such  an  his- 
torian as  Hume  follows,  in  the  main,  this  chronolog- 
ical order,  and  is,  so  far,  inferior  to  most  of  those  who 
succeed  him  as  English  Historians. 

2.    The  Logical  or  Causal 

This  is  a  more  recent  and  a  higher  order  of  narra- 
tive prose,  and  is  adopted  by  all  the  leading  histo- 
rians of  modern  times. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as, — The  Philosophy  of  His- 
tory.     Facts,    are    followed    by   principles    reached 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— HISTORICAL.      139 

through  them.  Generalization,  succeeds  the  mere 
recital  of  events.  Causes  and  effects,  are  discussed 
iu  their  relations;  and  in  and  through  the  historical 
records  are  seen  the  laws  that  control  them. 

This  is  a  method  in  no  sense  contradictory  or  op- 
posed to  the  other.  It  is  simply  higher  and  broader. 
It  is  based  on  the  other  and  is  logically  dependent 
on  it.  Froude  differs  from  Hume  not  in  decrying 
facts,  but  in  subjecting  them  to  ideas  and  principles. 
It  will  be  clear  at  once  that  this  is  the  most  difficult 
method,  and  yet  the  more  recompensing,  It  indi- 
cates and  develops  the  ability  of  the  historian  while, 
aiso,  affording  to  the  student  of  historical  prose  a 
more  satisfactory  body  of  literature  for  reference  and 
reading. 

.    Suggestions. 

(a)   The  Relations  of  History. 

From  what  has  already  been  stated,  some  of  these 
relationships  are  apparent,  as,  to  Description,  Biog- 
raphy, and  in  the  higher  forms  of  historical  writing, 
to  Philosophy  and  Logic. 

We  have  alluded  to  the  epic  as  based  on  the  nar- 
rative. This  is  true  to  a  large  extent  in  the  Drama 
as  involving  plot  and  story.  There  is  a  very  distinct 
dramatic  element  in  history  as  there  is  the  historical 
element  in  the  drama.  The  Historical  Plays  of 
Shakespeare  are  examples  in  point. 

Narrative  poetry  is  so  called  because  of  this  special 
element  in  it. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  has  poetry  as  well  as 
prose  in  it.  The  Metrical  Chronicle  is  not  without 
f'requjiit  example. 


140  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Many  of  the  older  writers,  sueh  as,  Lydgate, 
Drayton  and  others,  wrote  their  histories  in  poetic 
form. 

This  narrative  element  is,  also,  found  very  largely 
in  Fiction.  This  is  so  marked  as  to  give  us  a  distinct 
order  of  novel  called,  The  Historical,  as  in  Scott,  and 
Muhlbach.  It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  in  much 
of  our  fiction  to  separate  the  narrative  from  the 
romantic  element. 

The  relation  of  History  to  Geography  is  close, 
especially  in  that  form  of  Geography  called  Political. 
The  historian,  to  be  successful,  must  not  only  be  con- 
versant with  geographical  data,  but  must  know  the 
close  connection  of  places  and  events  and  how  the 
course  of  history  is  materially  determined  by  the 
courses  of  mountains  and  rivers;  by  race,  climate  and 
locality.  In  fine,  the  scope  of  historical  discourse  is 
so  broad  that  it  may  be  said  to  touch  nearly  every 
main  department  of  human  interest,  government  and 
society,  morals  and  industries,  life  and  thought.  This 
again,  adds  to  its  moral  dignity  and  worth. 

(1>)  Effect  of  Historical  Reading  on  Style. 

If,  as  has  been  stated,  simplicity  and  naturalness, 
unity  and  clearness,  are  characteristics  of  this  species 
of  writing  when  properly  exhibited,  then  it  follows, 
that  every  student  of  English  Style  must  be  conver- 
sant with  it.  It  is  not  only  a  safe  model  and  profit- 
able to  consult,  but  is  not  optional  with  the  ambi- 
tious composer  to  neglect  it.  His  own  interests  make 
it  necessary.  To  recount  a  narrative,  or  state  con- 
nected facts  in  a  plain  and  pleasing  manner,  is  a  high 
literary  art;  and,  when  expressed,  as  it  is,  in  our  best 
historical   prose,    should   be    ever   consulted    by   the 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— HISTORICAL.       141 

writer.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  literary  biography 
reveals  the  fact  that  some  of  the  most  mature  and 
eminent  English  writers  were  in  the  habit,  late  in 
life,  of  refreshing  and  simplifying  their  style  by  fre- 
quent resort  to  such  models. 

It  is  well  known  how  Thucydides,  in  his  country 
and  time,  served  as  a  model  in  this  respect.  Nothing 
will  more  effectually  save  a  writer  from  the  natural 
tendency  to  conceited  and  extravagant  forms  of  ex- 
pression, than  a  continual  contact  with  our  best  nar- 
rative discourse. 

(o)  Elements  of  Interest. 

The  main  feature  of  interest  here  is  the  same  as  in 
Biography,  the  personal  one.  Although  not  so  prom- 
inent or  exclusive  as  there,  it  is  still  sufficiently  so  to 
give  this  life-like  character  to  the  narrative,  which 
makes  it  impressive  and  pleasing.  History  is  more 
than  a  connected  record  of  facts  and  events,  dates 
and  incidents.  It  is  a  record  of  human  life  as  mani- 
fested in  the  aggregate, — in  society  and  nation, — an 
account  of  the  way  in  which  the  world  acts  under  all 
possible  variety  of  circumstances.  It  is,  in  a  real 
sense,  an  enlarged  biography,  and  gains  in  breadth 
what  it  loses  in  specific  reference. 

It  may  be  said  to  be  one  of  the  proofs  of  this,  and 
one  of  the  marks  of  modern  historical  treatment,  that 
this  element  of  individuality  is  made  increasingly 
distinct.  Hence,  we  have  such  works  as, — Green's 
History  of  the  English  People  as  distinct  from  En- 
gland, and  McMaster's  History  of  the  People,  of  the 
United  States,  rather  than  of  the  States  them- 
selves. It  is  now  noticeable  that  historians  are 
passing    more    and    more   from   the   abstract  to   the 


142  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

concrete;  from  the  impersonal  to  the  personal;  from 
the  historical,  pure  and  simple,  to  the  biographical 
also.  These  narratives  are  becoming  more  and  more 
practical  and  helpful  in  their  instruction.  Detailed 
accounts  of  wars  and  civil  politics  give  place  to  the 
record  of  the  common  life  of  the  people,  their  habits 
and  industries,  their  domestic,  social  and  moral  econ- 
omy; in  fact,  their  personal  character  as  expressed  in 
every  day  forms.  This,  moreover,  is  all  in  the  line 
of  the  very  ideal  of  history  as  a  record  of  the  past 
life  of  nations  for  the  guidance  of  present  peoples. 

In  addition  to  this  personal  element  as  conducive 
to  interest,  there  may  be  noticed  others  such  as,  the 
pleasure  of  noting  the  progressive  life  of  nations;  the 
triumph  of  right  over  wrong;  the  dramatic  cast  of 
narrative  discourse  as  it  goes  on  from  scene  to  scene 
towards  its  consummation;  and  above  all,  the  spacious 
and  imposing  scale  on  which  history  moves  as  a  suc- 
cessive and  accurate  record  of  the  world's  career.  It 
thus  resembles  the  epic,  not  only  in  its  narrative 
feature,  but  also  in  its  moral  sublimity  and  scope. 


CHAPTER  II. 
DESCRIPTIVE  OR  POETIC   PROSE. 

The  Word— Descriptive. 

This  term  is  here  used  as  distinct  from  the  term, 
narrative,  and  as  applicable  to  that  kind  of  prose 
which  sets  forth  objects,  located  in  space,  rather  than 
events  occurring  in  time.  It  conceives  of  its  object 
as  fixed  in  definite  position,  and  not  as  changing  its 
form  through  successive  eras. 

It  may,  also,  be  termed  descriptive  in  the  sense  of 
graphic,  poetic,  or  pietorial.  It  is  that  order  of  En- 
glish Prose  which  is  imaginative,  rather  than  histori- 
cal. It  is  representative  rather  than  preservative. 
and  has  to  do  with  symbols  and  figurative  forms,  as 
well  as  with  facts.  In  the  higher  themes  and  forms 
of  descriptive  writing,  such  as,  "The  Character  of 
Milton,"  or  of  English  Poetry,  the  presence  of  the  im- 
agination is  especially  seen  in  its  constructive  power. 
In  such  cases,  the  idea  to  be  set  forth  must  have 
place  and  body  given  it  as  if  it  were  a  visible,  tangi- 
ble thing.  The  writer  must  see  it,  and  so  present  it 
through  pictorial  emblems  that  the  reader  may  see 
it  with  equal  distinctness.  The  readers  must  be  made 
spectators  of  the  scene  presented  as  in  many  of  the 
descriptions   of  Bulwer   and  Dickens.     In  narrative 


144  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

writing,  it  is  the  historic  imagination  that  is  at  work. 
Here,  it  is  the  poetic  imagination  in  its  normal  and 
healthful  action  as  the  imaging  faculty.  Hence  it  is, 
that  in  poetry,  as  distinct  from  prose,  this  element 
largely  enters,  as  in  dramatic  and  pastoral  forms,  and 
in  that  special  form  of  poetry  which,  by  way  of  dis- 
tinction, is  termed — descriptive. 

Benefit  of  Descriptive  Prose  to  Style. 

As  in  narrative  prose,  the  main  benefits  to  the 
reader  and  student  are  naturalness  and  simplicity; 
here  they  are  vividness  and  vigor.  It  is  because 
these  qualities  of  style  ai'e  so  rare,  even  among  those 
possessed  of  all  the  others,  that  such  an  order  of  prose 
discourse  is  invaluable.  No  student  of  expression 
can  devote  himself  either  to  the  frequent  production 
or  consulting  of  such  writing  and  not  become  there- 
by the  master  of  a  lucid,  fluent  and  animated  style. 
All  is  life-like.  The  idea  is  made  to  stand  forth  on 
the  page  as  the  picture  on  the  canvas.  Its  outlines 
are  so  clear  that  from  them  one  can  easily  discern  the 
entire  content  of  the  scene  or  object.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  healthful  indications  of  modern  times  in  the 
department  of  literary  art  that  the  rigid  and  some- 
what lifeless  methods  of  the  older  schools  are  giving 
gradual  place  to  a  more  flexible  and  vivacious  style. 
Nothing  is  more  marked  in  the  progressive  history 
of  English  Prose  than  in  the  steady  advance  it  makes 
in  this  direction,  whereby  the  comparatively  unbend- 
ing forms  of  Hooker  and  Dryden  give  way  at  length 
to  the  more  pliant  prose  of  Addison,  and  this,  in  turn, 
to  the  still  more  natural  prose  of  the  Georgian  Age. 
This  is  all  in  the  line  of  a  real  return  to  the  true  in 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS. — DESCRIPTIVE.      145 

prose  composition  in  that  description,  as  narration,  is 
a  normal  mode  of  mental  expression,  and  must  find 
scope  and  use  just  to  the  degree  in  which  freedom 
takes  the  place  of  constraint,  and  artifice  yields  to  art. 

The  Mental  Element  in  Descriptive  Prose. 

There  is  a  philosophical  law  that  applies  here, — 
that  we  can  expect  to  find  no  more  in  the  effect  than 
the  cause;  that  what  we  do  find  in  the  effect  is  due 
to  the  power  resident  in  the  cause.  Clear  expres- 
sion reveals  clear  thinking.  A  high  order  of  de- 
scriptive prose  argues  a  high  order  of  intellectual  in- 
sight. The  mental  ability  of  the  one  determines  that 
of  the  other.  Vivid  description,  as  given  us  in  the 
best  historians  and  novelists  of  England,  means  vivid 
conception.  This  mental  power  is  especially  manifest 
in  the  imagination  as  a  faculty  of  forecasting  and 
combining. 

Descriptive  power  is  not,  indeed,  the  highest  order 
of  power,  since  the  imaging  faculty  cannot  be  said  to 
rank  above  the  others.  Some  of  our  prose  writers 
excel  in  this  only,  thus  revealing  the  fact  that  im- 
aginative power  may  exist  in  special  excellence  when 
other  powers  are  feebly  expressed.  The  ratio  at 
times  seems  to  be  inverse.  In  its  proper  place  and 
function,  however,  it  is  a  mental  faculty  of  high 
order,  and  when  ably  expressed  in  literary  product 
marks  a  good  degree  of  personal  ability. 

In  this  respect,  those  writers  succeed  the  best  who 
cultivate  and  apply  their  descriptive  powers,  not  as 
an  isolated  form  of  mental  activity,  but  as  vitally  re- 
lated to  all  the  other  essential  powers  of  the  mind. 
This  is  the  sufficient  explanation  of  the  fact,  that  do- 


146  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

sciiptive  writing  is  so  often  more  healthful  and  suc- 
cessful in  prose  than  in  poetry,  while  in  the  region 
of  prose  itself,  historical  descriptions  are  often  the 
best,  in  that  the  historic  imagination  controls  the 
poetic. 

Province  of  Descriptive  Prose. 

The  area  covered  by  descriptive  prose  is  similar 
to  that  covered  by  the  narrative  form.  These  two 
divisions  of  prose  so  happily  combine,  and  are  as 
a  matter  of  fact  so  frequently  connected,  that  the 
phrases, — historical  description,  or  descriptive  narra- 
tion,— have  become  current.  In  history,  travels  and 
biography,  the  descriptive  element  is  always  more  or 
less  present;  while  in  the  special  department  of  ex- 
perimental teaching  it  is  the  controlling  form.  "De- 
scription," says  Bain,  "is  involved  in  all  the  other 
kinds  of  composition." 

There  are,  however,  two  special  forms  of  prose  dis- 
course in  which  this  order  of  writing  is  clearly  prom- 
inent.— Poetical  Prose  and  Prose  Fiction. 

POETICAL  PROSE. 

As  the  phrase  indicates,  this  is  an  order  of  prose 
that  seems  to  lie  on  the  border  line  between  prose 
proper  and  poetry — a  form  which,  though  not  met- 
rical, has  a  larger  amount  than  usual  of  rhythm  and 
accentual  regularity  in  it. 

It  means,  imaginative  or  symbolfc  prose — what 
we  are  here  discussing  as  descriptive.  The  terms 
descriptive,  and  poetical,  are  here  quite  interchange- 
able in  that  the  term  poetical  is  used  as  synonymous 
with  the  term  pictorial.     An  important  suggestion  at 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— DESCRIPTIVE.       147 

this  point  is,  that  the  term  prose  when  used  without 
definition  or  explanation,  means  an  unimaginative, 
unpoetieal  order  of  writing.  It  means  just  what 
the  word  prose  (prorsus)  etymologically  means, — a 
straightforward,  direct  method  as  distinct  from  one 
more  or  less  indirect.  The  original  idea  of  prose  has 
reference  to  its  various  forms  other  than  the  imagina- 
tive form. 

In  so  far,  therefore,  as  prose  expression  tends  to  the 
poetic,  it  departs  from  its  pi'imal  law.     Historically 
viewed,  we  shall  note  that  of  the  four  or  five  forms  of 
prose  that  are  to  come  before  us,  the  one  we  are  now 
discussing  is  the  only  one  that  has  swerved  from  the 
old  idea;  just  as  in  didactic  poetry  or  prose  poetry  we 
mark  the  one   exception  in  that  sphere  among  all  the 
existing  forms  of  verse.     Exceptional  as  it  is,  how- 
ever, this  species  of  prose  is  natural,  well  established, 
widely  current,  and,  in  common  with  all  descriptive 
writing,  manifestly  on  the  increase.     It  marks  a  re- 
action from  that  strong  didactic  tendency  prominent 
in  prose  as  such,  and  urges  the  cultivation  of  a  style 
somewhat  freer  and   bolder.     Such  prose  writers  as 
Sir  Philip  Sydney  in  his  "  Arcadia,"  or  Jeremy  Taylor 
in  his  "  Holy   Living  and   Dying,"  or  Ruskin  in  his 
"  Stones  of  Venice,"  or  Irving  in  his  "  Sketch  Book," 
are  pertinent  examples  of  this  peculiar  order  of  prose. 
It  is  scarcely  correct  to  call  such  specimens,  as  most 
critics  do,  examples  of  a  mediate  or  third  form  of 
writing,   one   between  prose   and  poetry.     It  is  dis- 
tinctively   a    prose   form    in    that   it   is    unmetrical, 
although    not    so    fully    such    a    form    in    that    the 
poetical  element  is  unusually  present.     In   the   Old 
Testament  Scriptures,  among  what  are  termed  The 


148  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Poetical  Books,  there  is  ample  illustration  of  this 
kind  of  descriptive  writing,  so  germane  to  the  Ori- 
ental mind. 

PROSE  FICTION. 

In  this  species  of  prose  is  found  one  of  the  most 
distinctive  provinces  of  descriptive  writing,  whether 
we  view  it  in  its  specific  character  as  descriptive,  or 
in  its  relations  to  other  forms.  It  demands,  therefore, 
a  somewhat  full  discussion. 

The  Phrase— Prose  Fiction. 

Critics  and  authors  have  quarreled  not  a  little  over 
the  propriety  of  this  phraseology;  the  point  at  issue 
being  whether  Fiction  belongs,  in  truth,  to  the  sphere 
of  prose  or  poetry. 

As  far  as  the  phrase  which  has  been  accepted  goes, 
the  concession  is  made  to  those  who  claim  that  it 
finds  its  place  in  prose.  If  we  define  the  term  fiction 
etymologically,  as  something  feigned,  imaged  or  de- 
picted in  symbol,  or  if  we  define  it,  as  generally  done, 
as  that  form  of  discourse  in  which  truth  is  set  forth 
through  incidents  and  media  invented  at  the  time, 
the  result  is  the  same,  and  we  have  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a  kind  of  poetic-prose,  prose  set  forth  in  unreal 
forms,  supposed  for  the  time  to  be  real.  Despite  this 
concession,  however,  the  war  still  wages.  Minto,.  in 
his  "Manual,''  writes:  "In  excluding  Romance  or 
Fiction  from  a  Manual  of  Prose  Literature,  I  follow 
a  division  suggested  by  the  late  Professor  Moir. 
Romance  has  a  closer  affinity  with  Poetry  than  with 


REPRESENTA  TIVE  FORMS— DESCRIPTIVE,      149 

Prose:  it  is  cousin  to  Prose,  but  sister  to  Poetry.  Tt 
has  the  Prose  features,  but  the  Poetical  spirit." 
Minto  has  done  unwisely  here  in  following  Moir. 
The  error  lies  in  the  strange  confusion  of  adjective 
and  noun — poetic  and  Poetry.  The  error  is  so  vital 
as  to  detract  sensibly  from  the  merits  of  the  "Man- 
ual." If  the  reader  will  turn  to  Minto's  discussion 
of  Daniel  De  Foe,  the  first  strictly  English  Nov- 
elist, he  will  note  how  the  author  unconsciously  de- 
parts from  the  suggestion  of  Moir  and  assumes  safer 
ground. 

Robinson  Crusoe  is  essentially  poetic.  It  is  not  a 
poem,  or  poetry. 

Mr.  Masson,  on  the  other  hand,  in  his  "  British 
Novelists"  thus  writes:  "If  we  adopt  the  common 
division  of  literature,  into  History,  Philosophical  Lit- 
erature and  Poetry,  or  the  Literature  of  the  Imaa:- 
ination,  then  the  Novel  or  the  Prose  Fiction,  as  the 
name  itself  indicates,  belongs  to  the  department  of 
Poetry  (as  that  of  the  imagination).  It  is  Poetry, 
inasmuch  as  it  consists  of  matter  of  imagination,  but 
it  differs  from  what  is  ordinarily  called  poetry,  inas- 
much as  the  vehicle  is  not  verse  but  prose." 

The  "common  division"  of  literature  here  stated 
we  cannot  adopt,  nor  the  principle  that  everything  is 
necessarily  Poetry  that  "  consists  of  matter  of  imagina- 
tion."' It  is  still  true,  as  Masson  intimates,  that 
Fiction  belongs  to  "The  Prose  literature  of  the  Imag- 
ination," or,  as  he  states  Inter,  in  showing  the  rela- 
tion of  Fiction  to  Poetry,  that  "The  Novel,  at  its 
highest,  is  a  Prose  Epic."  The  detailed  coincidences, 
however,  on  which  Mr.  Masson  insists,  between  the 
Prose  Fiction  and   the  Epic,  are  pushed  too    far    in 


150  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

that  it  would  narrow  the  province  of  the  Novel  to  the 
narrative  or  historical. 

Fiction,  is  thus,  poetic  more  or  less,  but  not,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  Poetry.  Here  is  just  the  point  on 
which  the  question  turns.  The  main  feature  in 
poetry,  after  all,  is  one  of  form,  and  not  of  essence. 
It  is  its  metrical  structure.  Even  bad  poetry  in 
metre  is  poetry,  nevertheless,  and  Fiction  belongs  to 
the  sphere  of  Prose  because  imaginative  as  it  is,  its 
form  is  unmetrical.  Its  accents  are  arranged  on  no 
definite  s}Tstem  of  regular  succession. 

Quite  apart  from  this  question  of  form,  as  we  shall 
see,  there  are  some  kinds  of  Prose  Fiction  which  in 
their  content  are  so  decidedly  prose  as  to  make  it 
impossible  to  classify  them  under  any  form  of  verse 
production. 

Prose  Fiction,  therefore,  is  a  form  of  Descriptive 
Prose,  in  which  the  pictorial  and  romantic  element 
enters  even  more  largely  than  into  ordinary  descrip- 
tion. Prose,  as  it  is,  it  serves  but  to  manifest  still 
more  clearly  the  close  connection  of  metrical  and 
unmetrical  literature,  and  to  show  that  thev  are  but 
different  forms  (external)  of  expressing  the  same 
mental  idea. 

It  is  in  point,  here,  to  note,  that  it  is  in  the  histori- 
cal study  of  English  Prose  and  not  of  English  Poetry, 
that  we  come  to  the  origin  and  earliest  forms  of  the 
English  Novel. 

It  were  well  could  we  have  done  with  this  anoma- 
lous phrase — Prose  Fiction — and  term  it  Fiction, 
pure  and  simple.  If  the  terms  must  each  exist, 
reason  requires  their  reversal  so  as  to  read:  Fictitious 
Prose  (or  Imaginative  Prose). 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— DESCRIPTIVE.       151 


KINDS  OR  CLASSES  OF  PROSE  FICTION. 

The  old  division  into  Novels  Proper,  and  Romances, 
need  not  be  emphasized,  in  that  particular  forms  of 
the  Novel  may  be  termed — The  Romantic. 

As  to  these  divisions,  various  ones  have  been  given, 
especially  on  the  side  of  excessive  minuteness.  They 
range  from  the  thirteen  different  orders  as  given  by 
Masson,  to  the  three  given  by  Bulwer — The  Familiar, 
Picturesque,  and  Intellectual. 

\\Te  shall  present  a  four-fold  division  of  what  Mr. 
Dunlop  has  happily  termed — The  Prose  Works  of 
Fiction,  viz: 

The  Historical  or  Local  Novel. 
The  Descriptive  or  Social  Novel. 
The  Ethical  or  Didactic  Novel. 
The  Romantic  or  Sentimental  Novel. 

(1.)  The  Historical   Novel. 

If  any  form  of  the  Novel  could  be  placed  under 
Narrative  leather  than  Descriptive  Prose  it  would  be 
this.  It  marks  the  union  of  fact  and  fiction;  the 
point  of  importance  being  that  the  fact  is  for  the 
sake  of  the  fiction,  and  not  the  reverse,  as  in  history 
itself;  so  that  the  novelist  is  expected  somewhat  to 
shape  and  adjust  his  facts  to  his  plot  and  plan.  For 
this  reason,  the  narrative  novel  must  be  placed 
under  Pictorial  rather  than  Historical  Prose  as  a 
specific  form.     It  is  historical  subordinately. 

Of  this  species  of  Prose  Fiction,  Sir  Walter  Scott 
may  be  said  to  be  the  father,  in  England.  Histori- 
cal Novels  had  existed  as  far  back  as  the  days  of  De 
Foe,  but  under  Scott  they  took  a  definite  and  leading 


152 


ENGLISH   PROSE. 


place   in    our    literature.       In     America,     Fenimore 
Cooper  holds  a  similar  place. 

Separate  examples  illustrating  this  order  may  be 
selected  as  follows: 


Bulwer's 


Kingsley's 


James' 


"  Harold,  the   Last  of  the  Saxon 

Kings." 
"  England  and  the  English." 
"  Last  Days  of  Pompeii. 
"  Last  of  the  Barons." 
"Rienzi." 

(  "  Hypatia." 

(  "Westward,  Ho! 

f"  Richelieu." 
I  "  Mary  of  Burgundy." 
J  "  Henry  of  Guise." 
|  "Atilla." 
I  "Charlemagne,  History  of." 

"Frederic  the  Great  and  his  Court." 
"  Henry  the  Eighth  and  his  Court." 
"Joseph  the  Second  and  his  Court." 
"  Napoleon  and  Queen  Louisa." 

Many  isolated  specimens,  as  Thackeray's  "Henry 
Esmond"  and  "Four  Georges,"  or  Dickens'  "  Martin 
Chuzzlewit  "  and  "  Barnaby  Radge,"  might  be  cited, 
while  in  such  a  novelist  as  Disraeli  there  is  seen  a 
good  example  of  what  might  be  termed  Politico- 
Historical  Fiction. 

(2.)    The  Descriptive  Novel. 

This  is  descriptive  by  way  of  distinction,  and  may 
be  safely  viewed  as  the  typical  form  of  Prose  Fiction. 
It  may  further  be  regarded  as  the  most  frequent  of 


Miss  Muhl bach's 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— DESCRIPTIVE.       153 

1  the  higher  forms.     It  is  often  called — The  Novel 
f  Life  and  Manners, — whatever  the  sphere  or  nation- 
dity    may   be    in   which  that   life   is  exhibited.     Its 
'bject  is  to  give  a  graphic  and  truthful  picture  of 
men  and  things  in  a  given  age  or  community;  "to 
hold  the  mirror  up  to  nature,"    (human  nature)  and 
reveal  the  world  to  itself.     Its  purpose  and  method 
are  delineative  in  the  sphere  of  character  and  cus- 
toms.    It  has  been  called — The  Domestic  Novel,  in 
the  fullest  sense  of  that  term. 

In  this,  the  historical  element  is  present  but  some- 
what concealed,  while  the  imagination  in  its  present 
active  and  portraying  work  is  especially  active.  All 
the  features  that  mark  fiction  as  a  separate  form  of 
prose  and  ally  it,  also,  closely  to  poetry,  are  present 
in  this  kind  of  novel  more  than  in  any  other. 

It  is  not  surprising  to  find,  therefore,  that  the 
leading  names  in  Modern  English  Fiction  are  found 
just  here, — Dickens,  Reade,  Bulwer,  Thackeray,  Miss 
Mulock,  Miss  Austen,  Mr.  Trolloppe,  George  Mac 
Donald,  Collins,  Charlotte  Bronte  and  others,  aa 
Hawthorne,  in  America.  If  we  extend  this  list  so 
as  to  include  other  novelists,  who  though  out  of 
England  have  written  in  English,  their  name  is 
legion. 

(3.)    The  Ethical  Novel. 

It  might  be  called  the  Didactic  or  Philosophical. 
As  a  matter  of  history  it  has  been  known  by  some  as, 
The  Novel  of  Culture,  and  by  others  as,  The  Novel 
of  Purpose.  Outside  of  England,  we  are  pointed  to 
Goethe's   "  Wilhelm  Meister"    as  an  example  where 


154  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

the  reflective  element  in  character  is  made  the  chief 
one,  and  where  such  a  character  is  represented  as 
seeking  for  light  in  darkness  and  coming  through 
doubt  to  certainty. 

In  this  type  of  Novel  we  reach  a  class  where 
the  distinctive  elements  of  Prose  Fiction  are  least 
manifest,  and  we  border  most  closely  on  ordinary, 
unimaginative  prose.  Such  fiction  is  so  formal  in 
method  and  aim,  and  so  introspective  in  character, 
that  it  lacks  much  of  the  spontaneity  and  scope  of 
fiction  proper.  The  fictional  feature  is  not  promi- 
nent, nor  is  the  main  object  of  the  novel — to  please — 
always  clear.  Motives  are  dissected  and  principles 
laid  bare.  Fiction  as  it  is,  the  ethical,  logical  ami 
philosophical  cast  is  so  prominent  that  one  is  ofttn 
in  doubt  as  to  just  what  he  is  reading.  Mentally,  it- 
is  the  most  difficult  kind  of  Fiction  to  produce  or 
enjoy,  while  its  moral  coloring  is  evident  on  every 
hand.  As  might  be  supposed,  this  is  a  species  of 
the  Novel  which  has  but  few  illustrations  as  compared 
with  the  others.  Its  leading  exponent,  in  England, 
is  George  Eliot,  whom  Sidney  Lanier  has  seen  fit  to 
regard  as  the  representative  English  Novelist  of 
Modern  times. 

By  reason  of  her  present  wide  influence  as  an  au- 
thor and  a  thinker,  the  ethical  novel  may  be  said 
to  be  now  at  its  height  and  enjoying  a  popularity 
somewhat  apart  from  its  intrinsic  worth  as  a  form 
of  fiction. 

If  it  be  asked,  why  this  didactic  type  of  novel 
should  not  find  place  under  ordinary  didactic  prose 
rather  than  under  Prose-Fiction  or  Descriptive  Prose, 
it  may  be  answered — that  philosophical  as  it  is,  it  is 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— DESCRIPTIVE.       155 

fictitious  and  imaginative  in  its  groundwork  and 
method.  In  its  use  of  symbolic  characters  it  has  all 
the  descriptive  element  of  dramatic  writing.  It  is 
didactic  simply  as  to  its  aim.  Its  character  is  delin- 
eative  and  pictorial. 

(4.)  The   Romantic  Novel. 

This  is  what  is  often  termed — The  Sentimental  or 
Sensational  Novel.  Mr.  Masson  speaks  of  it  in  his 
classification  as,  The  Fashionable  Novel,  its  main  pur- 
pose being  to  set  forth  the  higher  phases  of  city  life. 
Bulwer  would  call  it,  The  Familiar  Novel,  having  to 
do  with  the  more  common  events  and  affairs  of  men. 

In  this  type  of  Novel  we  have  the  best  examples 
of  The  Romance  as  distinct  from  the  Novel  Proper 
— that  order  of  fiction  in  which  the  fanciful  and  ex- 
travagant rather  than  the  normally  imaginative  is 
supreme.  Of  the  four  classes  mentioned,  this  is  by 
far  the  most  abundant  in  English  Prose,  especially  so 
in  modern  times,  and  is  by  far  the  least  valuable  in 
character,  method  and  design.  It  is  necessary  to 
state  that  there  are  two  forms  of  the  Romantic  Novel. 

The  less  objectionable  form  deals,  though  in  a 
somewhat  superficial  way,  indeed,  with  the  current 
phases  of  fashionable  life,  and  yet  keeps  compar- 
atively clear  of  moral  excess  or  defect.  It  succeeds 
in  taking  an  indifferent  attitude  relative  to  the  right 
or  wrong  of  any  given  question,  and  aims  simply  to 
interest  the  reader  by  skipping  pleasantly  over  the 
surface  of  social  life.  It  mingles  just  enough  art, 
politics,  and  sober  allusion,  to  cast  a  coloring  of  pro- 
priety over  all,  and  yet  not  enough  to  detract  from 
the   chief  aim  of  fiction — to    entertain   and    amuse. 


156  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Sir  Philip  Sydne}r,  in  his  "  Arcadia,"  and  Eichard- 
son  and  Fielding  in  their  better  productions,  illus- 
trate this  form.  Mr.  Disraeli  exemplifies  it  in  his 
politico-social  sketches,  as  also,  Bulwer,  himself,  in 
some  of  his  lighter  works. 

With  that  large  class  of  readers  who  care  but  lit- 
tle for  the  Historical  or  Ethical  Novel,  and,  yet, 
are  not  quite  prepared  to  endorse  that  order  of 
production  which  is  positively  immoral,  this  better 
form  of  Eomance  may  be  said  to  be  the  most  accept- 
able of  all. 

As  to  the  lower  form  of  the  Eomantic  Novel,  the 
words  of  Masson  are  in  place — "  that  no  harm  will 
attend  its  total  and  immediate  extinction."  We  may 
add,  that  great  mental  and  moral  good  would  attend 
such  an  extinction. 

This  is  the  Sentimental  Novel — pure  and  simple. 
Transient  and  unhealthful  sensation  is  its  only  aim. 
Produced  as  it  is  more  fully  in  England  and  America 
than  any  other  form,  and  read  more  than  any  other 
form,  it  is  yet  the  one  form  which  should  find  no 
place  in  any  library  or  community.  It  is  the  novel 
of  low  life  and  tendency — the  romance  of  the  street, 
brothel,  dance  house  and  third-rate  theater.  As  a 
form  of  Prose  Fiction  it  corresponds  precisely  to  the 
immoral  drama  of  the  time  of  Dryden,  as  produced 
by  Dryden  himself,  and  such  authors  as  Wycherly, 
Aphra  Behn  and  Vanburgh.  In  the  latter  part  of 
the  Augustan  Era  of  English  Prose,  the  immoral 
drama  gave  way,  in  part,  to  an  equally  immoral  order 
of  novel  as  seen  in  the  works  of  Smollett  and  Sterne. 
The  key-note  of  it  all  is  illicit  love.  The  most  pro- 
nounced indecencies  and  personal  vices  are  portrayed 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— DESCRIPTIVE.       157 

in  brilliant  light,  and  glossed  over  with  an  adroit  lit- 
erary art  so  as  to  allure  and  corrupt.  This  is  the 
popular  romance  of  Modern  Europe  and  America. 
Recent  English  critics  are  inclined  to  take  a  hopeful 
view  of  the  novel  of  the  future.  They  think  they 
discern  in  what  they  call  the  increasing  realism  of 
the  novel,  a  decided  tendencv  toward  the  intellectual 
and  moral,  and  away  from  the  fantastic  and  unsound. 
This  tendency  to  realism  is,  indeed,  apparent,  but  not 
in  the  form  that  is  desired.  It  is  not  to  the  end  that 
our  Prose  Fiction  may  be  made  more  real  in  the  sense 
of  historical  as  in  Scott,  or  more  real  in  the  sense  of 
truthful  social  sketches  as  in  Thackeray,  but  more 
revoltingly  real  in  the  form  of  a  material  and  sensu- 
ous view  of  life.  We  must  have  life  depicted  as  it  is 
say  these  authors,  and  hence  the  rise  of — The  Exper- 
imental Novel  of  Emile  Zola  and  his  English  co-work- 
ers— the  last  outcome  of  realism,  and  the  lowest 
bottom  that  fiction  has  yet  reached. 

These  tendencies  are  all  downward.  The  only 
hope  of  English  Fiction  is  to  return  to  that  form 
which,  take  it  together,  is  the  best — The  Descrip- 
tive Novel — the  safe  middle-ground  between  the  di- 
dactic and  the  fanciful — the  portraiture  of  healthful 
English  Life. 

Little  need  be  said  as  to  the  descriptive  element  in 
this  last  species  of  fiction.  In  each  of  its  forms  it  is 
conspicuous.  Often  in  the  lowest  form  it  i-eaches  the 
extreme  of  wild  and  loose  portraiture  whereby  the 
baser  passions  of  the  reader  may  be  excited.  In  these 
four  species  of  Fiction,  therefore,  description  is  pre- 
sent, though  the  measure  of  its  presence  is  different 
in  each. 


158  ENGLISH  PROSE. 


Rank  and  Value  of  Prose  Fiction. 

Were  we  to  judge  of  this  value  by  the  amount  pro- 
duced and  read,  this  species  of  Prose  must  take  rank 
over  all  other  existing  forms.  The  proportion  is  cer- 
tainly six-tenths  and  over.  Modern  Critics, — Lanier, 
Besant  and  others,  intimate  that  a  true  estimate 
would  take  us  up  to  eight-tenths.  Certain  it  is,  that 
the  Novel  and  the  Newspaper  are  the  greatest  popu- 
lar educators  of  modern  times.  We  say  nothing  as 
to  the  quality  of  the  education.  When  it  is  remem- 
bered, however,  that  this  vast  amount  is  mainly  made 
up  both  as  to  production  and  perusal,  by  the  promi- 
nence of  the  lowest  order  of  Novel,  it  is  seen  that 
some  other  principle  than  mere  amount  must  be  ac- 
cepted as  the  basis  of  estimate.  If  we  have  refer- 
ence, therefore,  to  the  best  forms  of  fiction  only,  and 
inquii*e  as  to  its  rank,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the 
sphere  of  prose  it  covers  a  most  important  area 
between  History  Proper  on  the  one  hand,  and  Philos- 
ophy Proper  on  the  other.  As  has  been  seen,  there 
are  historical  and  philosophical  elements  in  Fiction, 
but  not  enough  to  impair  its  character  as  fiction,  just 
enough,  indeed,  to  strengthen  it.  It  furnishes  to  the 
5  English  reader  and  student  just  that  kind  of  mental 
food  that  he  needs,  when  not  engaged  in  the  weigh- 
ing of  facts  or  the  adjustment  of  speculative  prob- 
lems. It  is  in  the  line  of  relief,  refreshment,  mental 
quickening  and  {esthetic  culture,  and  when  properly 
used  ministers  to  the  best  development  of  the  man. 
Lanier,  in  his  masterly  work  on  "The  English 
Novel"  defines  it  as,  "The  distinctive  form  in  which 
man's  new  personal  relation  to  his  fellow  man  has 


REPRESENTA  TIVE     FORMS.— DESCRIPTIVE.       159 

expressed  itself."  The  Novel,  in  his  view,  is  the  ex- 
pression of  personality.  This  he  calls  "  the  principle 
of  its  development."  As  far  as  this  goes,  he  would 
rank  Prose  Fiction  as  the  highest  form.  This  view 
is  suggestive  and  full  of  interest  and,  yet,  pressed 
too  far. 

There  are  other  forms  of  Prose  more  important. 
It  is  indispensable,  however,  as  a  form.  It  supplies 
a  place  covered  by  no  other  form,  and  is  the  natural 
mode  of  the  expression  of  thought.  There  is  no  kind 
of  prose  so  easily  and  frequently  abused,  and  none  as 
to  which  criticism  has  been  more  bigoted. 

The  lowest  form  of  Fiction  should  never  be  read. 
Promiscuous  novel  reading  is  a  mental  and  moral  en- 
ervation, and,  yet,  no  student  of  English  should  fail  to 
make  himself  intelligently  conversant  with  the  best 
works  of  our  best  novelists.  Nothing  is  more  unfor- 
tunate in  a  literary  and  moral  point  of  view,  than 
that  young  men  should  begin  with  the  novel  only, 
and  for  a  long  time  continue  with  the  novel  only,  as 
the  subject  matter  of  their  reading.  Still,  it  cannot 
be  safely  discarded.  Its  moderate  and  gradual  com- 
bination with  other  forms  of  English  Prose  all  along 
the  line  of  one's  literary  life  is  the  most  desirable 
method. 

General  Characteristics  of  Descriptive  Prose. 

1.   The  Im(ir/inative  Element. 

As  already  suggested,  this  is  its  main  feature  as 
seen  in  its  two  leading  forms — Poetical  Prose  and  Prose 
Fiction.  It  has  to  do  with  scenes  and  object  conceived 
as  existing  in  space,  and  not  with  actual  data  given 


1G0  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

to  hand.  It  is  an  order  of  prose  in  which  sketching 
takes  the  place  of  statement  and  imagery,  that  of 
logical  process. 

2.  Pictorial  Diction. 

Descriptive  Prose  has  its  own  diction.  It  is  called 
by  the  critics — Word  Painting.  In  Poetry,  natur- 
ally, this  is  the  controlling  order  of  diction,  as  in 
Tennyson.  In  this  order  of  prose  it  is  present  in 
so  far  as  the  prose  is  poetic.  Hence,  in  Fiction  and 
other  kinds  of  descriptive  writing  the  phraseology 
is  peculiar.  It  is  graphic  and  picturesque.  It  is 
delineative.  It  is  in  literature  what  painting  is 
in  the  fine  arts,  or  drawing  in  the  practical  arts. 
Hawthorne  is  a  notable  example.  Dickens,  in  his 
"  Sketches  of  Boz,"  illustrates  it,  and  Victor  Hugo, 
in  his  '"9a,"  and  "  Les  Miserables,"  Outside  of 
Fiction,  in  the  general  province  of  description, 
it  is  seen  in  Ruskin,  Lamb,  and  Irving.  In  His- 
torical Description,  as  in  Prescott,  Motley,  and  Ma- 
cau lay,  this  pictorial  use  of  language  is  noteworthy. 
Even  Gibbon  has  some  striking  paragraphs  of  this 
order.  A  good  use  of  figurative  terms  is,  thus,  an  ele- 
ment of  success. 

3.   Comprehensiveness  and  Minuteness. 

There  is  no  form  of  prose,  even  the  historical,  in 
which  this  adjustment  of  fullness  and  detail  is  so 
important  and  so  difficult.  Of  the  object  or  scene  all 
the  facts  must  be  described  and,  yet,  the  extreme  of 
wearisomeness  as  to  minor  points  must  be  avoided. 
Success  in  this  marks  the  master.  The  description  may 
be  complete,  and  much,  yet,  must  be  verbally  omitted 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— DESCRIPTIVE.      161 

The  reader  has  his  part,  and  desires  to  have  it.  What 
this  is  the  writer  must  know.  If  either,  it  is  better 
tp  be  too  general  than  too  minute.  A  repulsive 
minuteness  is  the  vice  of  the  lowest  fiction.  It  is 
purposely  so.  Standard  novelists,  as  Dickens  and 
Cooper  err  here,  while  George  Eliot  fails  at  the  other 
extreme.  As  a  rule,  the  Ethical  Novel  tends  to  un- 
due comprehensiveness  while  the  others  tend  to 
undue  detail.  The  best  fiction  could  be  condensed 
one-half  and    be   improved. 

How  to  adjust  generals  and  particulars  in  the 
presentation  of  any  scene,  object,  event  or  charac- 
ter, is  the  problem  of  descriptive  prose  as  it  is  its 
characteristic. 


CHAPTER  III. 
OKATOKICAL  OE  IMPASSIONED  PEOSE. 

The  Words  Oratorical  and  Oral. 

These    are    to   be    here   sharply   discriminated;    the 
first  referring   only    to    written    discourse;    the    lat- 
ter,   to  spoken  or    delivered    discourse.     Oratorical 
Prose  refers  to  that  form   of  prose  in   which    those 
elements  are  prominent  that  would  make  it  adapted 
to  oral  delivery.     It  is  thus  more  nearly  related  to 
spoken  discourse  than  any  other  form  of  written  prose. 
It  may  be  said  to  be  a  kind  of  middle  form  between 
the  written  and  the  oral  and  that  through  which  the 
one  passes  over  easily  into  the  other.     As  such,  its 
importance  is  marked  and  it  is  so  prominent  a  species 
of  Modern  English  Prose  that  its  careful  discussion 
is  essential.      The  old  writers  called  it — Persuasive 
Prose,  having  to  do  with  the  will  and  the  outward 
action  of  the  man. 

(A.)  Characteristics  of  Oratorical  Prose. 

1.  Emotional. 

It  is  the  impassioned  form,  as  distinct  from  the 
historical  and  the  descriptive.  It  has  to  do  mainly 
with  the  feelings  as  sources  and  agents  of  power,  its 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— ORATORICAL.         103 

main  object  being  to  express,  awaken  and  control 
feeling.  It  is  a  form  of  writing  marked  by  trne 
inspiration  and  impulse  rather  than  by  the  more 
cautious  processes  of  reason  and  logical  analysis.  It 
seeks  to  impress  more  than  it  does  to  explain ;  to  incite 
to  immediate  purpose  and  action  rather  than  to  show 
why  such  action  might  be  desirable  or  practicable. 
Whatever  other  qualities  of  a  good  style  it  may  be 
said  to  possess,  it  possesses  the  quality  of  force  more 
than  any  other.  Hence,  the  themes  that  it  discusses 
are  cogent,  animated  themes — the  vital  issues  of  the 
age  or  people,  calculated  to  beget  true  passion  in  the 
soul  of  the  writer  and  reader. 

The  diction  chosen  is  thus  forcible  rather  than 
merely  clear  or  graceful ;  the  sentence  structure  is  so 
built  up  and  related  that  the  leading  ideas  of  the  par- 
agraph shall  stand  forth  prominently  and  so  that  the 
best  effect  of  the  rhetorical  climax  shall  be  produced. 
For  the  same  reason,  the  strongest  forms  of  figurative 
language  are  used,  as  Metaphor,  Personification,  Epi- 
gram and  Interrogation  so  that  the  final  effect  of  the 
writing  may  be  intensified  and  potent.  All  that  is 
insipid,  puerile  or  irrelevant  is  conscientiously  discar- 
ded if  so  be  the  thought  expressed  may  have  its  fullest 
force  and  move  the  soul  of  the  reader.  This  feeling 
may  be  subdued  or  demonstrative,  still,  it  is  in  the 
soul  and  in  the  thought  and  cannot  be  concealed. 
If  it  be  genuine,  little  care  need  be  taken  as  to  the 
precise  manner  of  its  expression. 

2.    Objective  in  Aim  and  Result. 

It  is  a  form  of  prose  whose  purpose  is  altogether 
outside  of  itself.     It  is  not  so  much  for  the  writer's 


16<L  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

sake  or  even  for  the  sake  of  the  subject  matter,  as  for 
the  reader's  sake,  to  move  and  mold  his  nature.  It 
is  for  this  reason  free  from  many  of  those  literary  er- 
rors that  arise  from  restriction  and  the  prominence  of 
the  subjective.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  they  succeed 
the  best  in  this  kind  of  prose  who  have  the  fullest 
knowledge  of  men  and  things  outside  of  themselves. 
SThey  understand  their  fellows  and  the  times  in  which 
they  live.  They  know  how  to  reach  men  and  im- 
press them,  so  that  when  they  take  pen  in  hand  to 
discuss  a  living  theme  for  definite  external  ends  they 
cannot  but  be  forceful.  They  are  so,  sometimes,  at 
the  expense  of  the  graces  of  literary  art.  Their 
vigor  and  masculine  power  are,  at  times,  manifest 
to  the  detriment  of  the  niceties  and  proprieties, 
so  called.  Such  writers  are  willing  to  sacrifice  the 
lesser  to  the  greater,  and  gain  force  when  they 
lose  refinement.  Devoid  of  finish  as  such  prose 
often  is,  it  wonld  be  safe  to  say,  that  no  species 
would  be  more  missed  to-day  from  the  body  of 
our  prose  literature.  It  is  as  much  needed  as  it  is 
rare. 

This  external  force  of  impassioned  prose  lies  partly 
in  the  theme  or  the  time,  but  mainly  in  the  author 
himself.  £The  personality  of  the  writer,  after  all,  is 
the  motive  power.  It  is  that  which  leads  to  potent 
expression  and  impression.  English  writers  may  be 
classified  on  this  principle — their  ability  to  project 
themselves  upon  the  mind  and  heart  of  their  readers, 
so  that  the  reader,  perforce,  acknowledges  the  power 
and  yields  himself  implicitly  to  its  sway.  These  are 
the  masters.  They  are  but  few,  but  they  rule  the 
world. 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS. — ORATORICAL.       1G5 

3.  Freedom  of  Thought  and  Expression. 

True  feeling  cannot  be  confined  within  prescribed 
limits.  In  its  very  nature  it  is  spontaneous.  Emo- 
tion is  motion.  The  royal  law  of  liberty  holds  here 
most  especially.  As  soon  as  any  formal  statute  is 
applied  which  the  writer  must,  at  all  hazards,  follow, 
the  natural  flow  of  passion  ceases  and  all  is  con- 
strained aud  sluggish.  All  genuine  emotion  must 
be  under  the  control  of  mind  and  judgment,  but  this 
conceded,  its  range  is  to  be  unrestricted.  There  is  a 
drift,  a  momentum  about  it  that  cannot  bix>ok  ob- 
struction, and  if  obstructed,  will  leave  its  normal 
channel  and  break  away  into  dangerous  courses. 
Specific  limitation  here  is  fraught  with  far  more 
harm  than  the  largest  possible  liberty  of  scope. 

4.  Interesting  and  Stimulating. 

"Passion,"  I  see,  "is  catching,"  said  the  dramatist. 
There  is  no  form  of  prose  in  which  the  attention  of 
the  reader  becomes  more  engrossed.  This  arises  from 
its  very  nature  as  impassioned,  and  from  the  character 
of  the  subject  discussed.  Earnestness  begets  corres- 
ponding earnestness  even  to  the  removal  of  hostility, 
indifference  and  prejudice.  The  reciprocal  influence  of 
author  and  reader  is  constant  and  potent  and  as  the 
tide  of  feeling  rises  in  one  it  rises  in  the  other  until 
full  community  of  interest  is  established.  Discourse 
now  appears  as  a  sympathetic  interchange  of  ideas 
for  mutual  good  and  the  happiest  results  follow.  In 
oral  speech,  where  the  orator  and  the  auditor  come 
into  the  personal  presence  of  each  other,  the  results 
are  at  times,  indescribable.     Even  in  written  prose, 


16(5  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

however,  the  principle  of  sympathy  holds  good,  so 
that  there  is  identity  of  feeling  and  object.  The 
reader  is  more  than  entertained  as  in  pictorial  de- 
scription or  pleasing  narrative.  He  is  absorbed  and 
engaged  and  becomes,  for  the  time,  personally  com- 
mitted to  the  subject  in  hand.  The  understandings  of 
men  may  be  enlightened,  and  their  judgments  con- 
vinced and  their  taste  gratified  in  other  ways  and 
by  other -forms  of  prose,  but  little  is  done,  after  all, 
until  the  soul,  as  the  seat  of  the  affections,  is  reached 
and  roused.     Men  must  be  moved. 

Notes. 

(a)  This  form  admits  of  the  presence  of  the  imagin- 
ation, in  its  office  of  bringing  the  unreal  into  real 
nearness,  and  thus  making  it  more  effective  in  awak- 
ening feeling.  In  dramatic  literature  and  in  sacred 
discourse  this  emotive  office  of  the  imagination  is 
especially  cogent.  The  abstract  must  be  made  visible, 
concrete  and  real,  in  order  to  evoke  emotion. 

(b)  The  Ethical  Element  is  here  indicated. 
Genuine  passion  has  a  distinctively  ethical  feature. 

It  comes  from  the  soul,  the  moral  nature  of  man  and 
is  best  illustrated  in  the  moral  realm.  Impassioned 
prose,  as  such,  awakens  the  deepest  sentiments  of  the 
heart  and  appeals  to  the  higher  and  deeper  nature. 
In  Scripture,  in  sacred  pr^se  and  in  secular  prose  of 
the  ethical  order,  its  best  illustration  is  seen. 
Moral  feeling  is  the  highest  form  of  feeling. 

(c)  Its  Abuse. 

This  is  as  common  as  it  is  easy.  Just  because  this 
order  of  prose  appeals  to  the  emotions  rather  than 
to  the  critical  faculty,  it  is  delicate  and  tender  in  its 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— ORATORICAL.       167 

nature.  It  is  as  sensitive  as  sympathy  itself.  Spon- 
taneous in  its  outflow,  it  may  easily  degenerate  into 
fanaticism  or  unlicensed  passion.  In  Prose  Fiction, 
as  already  discussed,  there  are  striking  examples  of 
such  abuse — in  those  lower  forms  of  the  novel  where 
feeling  is  excited  either  for  its  own  sake  or  for  some 
transient  and  base  end. 

(B.)  DIVISIONS  OR  KINDS  OF  ORATORICAL  PROSE. 

1.  Forensic  Prose. 

This  would  be  called  in  England,  Parliamentary 
Pilose,  and  in  America,  Senatorial  or  Congressional. 
The  written  productions  of  that  class  of  men  known 
as  the  British  and  American  Orators  would  best  ex- 
emplify this  order  of  prose" — Pitt,  Fox,  Burke,  Adams, 
Otis,  Clay  and  others  This  is  the  civil  or  political 
prose  of  English  Letters — the  literature  of  statesmen. 
Its  themes  are  practical  and  broad.  It  has  to  do 
with  the  discussion  of  great  national  issues,  on  which 
the  policies  of  States  depend.  It  seeks  to  enforce  as 
well  as  expound  great  constitutional  principles  as 
embodied  in  the  various  forms  of  civil  government. 
Cicero  in  the  Forum,  Mirabeau  in  the  Assembly,  and 
Sumner  in  the  Senate,  present  a  form  of  prose  which 
as  written  and  unspoken  is  oratorical  and  impas- 
sioned. In  the  days  of  Aristotle  and  the  Greeks,  it 
was  termed,  Deliberative  Prose  in  that  it  had  to  do 
with  the  weighing  or  considering  of  vital  civic  ques- 
tions. It  is  legislative  in  its  order  and  object  and  is 
handed  down  to  later  ages  in  the  shape  of  State 
documents  for  reference  and  as  elaborate  orations 
for  studv  and  instruction. 


168  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

If  the  requisites  to  its  successful  production  be 
asked,  they  may  be  said  to  consist  in  'political  knowl- 
edge and  an  unselfish  devotion  to  public  interests. 

The  forensic  writer  must  be  thoroughly  versed  in 
the  Science  of  Government — its  sources,  powers,  forma 
and  aims.  He  must  be  grounded  in  constitutional 
law  as  a  special  branch  of  law,  must  know  the  rela- 
tions of  rulers  to  the  governed,  and  what  is  called, 
the  genius  of  government.  A  state  paper  from  such 
a  man  as  Gladstone  is  valuable  in  its  literary  and 
official  character  as  coming  from  one  who  is  a  student 
of  statecraft  as  he  is  a  student  of  Homer  and  English 
Poetry. 

Early  American  Forensic  Prose  is  thus,  far  in  ad- 
vance of  the  later,  and  may  favorably  be  compared 
at  that  time  with  that  of  the  mother  country. 

2.  Judicial  and  Argumentative  Prose. 

This  is  closely  allied  to  the  former  kind  in  that  the 
jurist  and  the  statesman,  as  in  the  cases  of  Hamilton 
and  Webster,  have  so  often  been  combined.  Still  it 
has  a  separate  place  and  history.  It  is  the  prose  of 
written  debate  and  jurisprudence  and  largely  illus- 
trated in  every  period  of  marked  mental  activity 
when  sides  must  be  taken  and.  proofs  examined.  Its 
object  is  to  secure,  defend  and  enlarge  the  rights  of 
man,  national,  local  and  individual;  to  see  that  justice 
is  done  on  every  hand.  Nor  does  its  end  close  with 
the  mere  exposition  of  the  law,  but  as  a  form  of  im- 
passioned prose  it  has  more  especially  to  do  with  its  en- 
forcement and  application.  It  has  a  persuasive  element 
in  it,  especially  as  applied  in  criminal  jurisprudence 
where  feeling  sometimes  rises  to  its  highest  levels. 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— ORATORICAL.       169 

Conviction  is  reached  through  emotion,  as  guarded 
by  reason.  In  published  Debates  and  printed  Judi- 
cial Cases  and  Proceedings  this  style  of  prose  is 
seen. 

Here  as  before,  knowledge  and  personal  interest 
are  the  main  essentials  to  success.  The  judicial 
writer  must  be  versed  in  the  principles  and  details  of 
law  as  a  separate  science,  must  be  imbued  with  its 
spirit  as  the  embodiment  of  justice  and  be  devoted 
to  its  great  end,  the  maintenance  of  human  rights. 
Irrespective  of  any  particular  case  in  hand,  he  must  as 
a  man,  be  identified  with  the  triumph  of  law  if  so  be 
he  is  to  write  with  cogency  and  success.  Erskine  of 
England  and  Choate  of  America  finely  fulfilled  these 
conditions. 

Just  to  the  degree  in  which  a  juristic  writer  is 
conversant  with  his  theme  and  loyal  to  the  interests 
of  law  and  order  wherever  infringed,  will  he  be  fer- 
vent in  his  style  and  produce  a  type  of  prose  so 
animated  as  to  find  its  best  and  fittest  expression  in 
oral  discourse. 

3.  Sacred  Prose. 

This  is  best  seen  in  Homilies,  Sermons,  and  Ethical 
papers.  It  has  all  the  emotional  elements  of  ordinary 
secular  prose  as  oratorical,  with  that  additional  ele- 
ment which  comes  from  its  moral  character. 

This  form,  in  its  very  nature,  is  persuasive,  sympa- 
thetic and  arousing.  It  aims  at  an  immediate  result 
upon  the  will,  conscience  and  life.  Sacred  Prose,  in 
so  far  as  written,  should  be  imbued  with  genuine 
feeling  in  that  it  has  to  do  with  the  highest  interests 
of    in. i.i     and      must  reach     those     interests    largely 


170  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

through  the  affections.  The  sermon,  as  distinct  from 
the  technical  theological  system  or  treatise,  should  be 
impassioned.  In  the  extant  sermons  of  the  great 
French  preachers — Massillon,  Bourdaloueand  Bossuet ; 
iu  Chrysostom  of  Greece;  in  Hall,  South,  Tillotson 
and  Taylor  of  England;  in  Chalmers  of  Scotland 
and  in  Edwards  of  America,  this  order  of  prose  ig 
seen  to  be  fervid  and  forceful  to  the  highest  degree. 

In  each  of  these  forms  of  oratorical  prose  men- 
tioned, it  is  to  be  emphasized,  that  there  is  present 
an  impassioned  vigor  and  boldness  of  style.  What- 
ever their  didactic  basis  in  knowledge  may  be,  or 
whatever  their  purpose  to  explain,  political,  legal  or 
moral  science,  their  main  feature  is  the  emotional 
one  and  their  main  aim,  to  stimulate  and  persuade. 
No  literature  is  richer  than  the  English  in  this  form 
of  prose.  Just  because  it  is  mediate  between  written 
and  spoken  discourse  it  is  interesting  and  serves  to 
mark  the  close  relations  of  the  two  departments.  It 
is  needless  to  add  that  as  strong  as  these  principles 
are  in  written  prose  the}7-  are  immeasurably  stronger, 
when  they  assume  oral  character  in  the  person  of  the 
orator.  Modern  English  and  American  Prose  needs 
nothing  more  than  this  impassioned  element.  In  the 
rise  and  prevalence  of  technical  criticism  and  in  the 
dominance  of  a  false  eestheticism  in  art  and  literature, 
there  is  danger  lest  masculine  vigor  may  give  way  to 
the  effeminate  and  the  Saxon  turn  once  again  to  the 
Norman. 

There  is  no  danger  whatever,  as  some  insist,  that 
high  and  clean  literary  art  will  suffer  when  passion 
enters.  We  are  told  that  the  dispassionate  temper  is 
proper  here  and  no  other.     This  dogma  is  plausible, 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— ORATORICAL.       171 

but  has  overreached  itself  until  the  formal  has  too 
often  taken  the  place  of  the  natural  and  until  cor- 
rectness has  triumphed  over  creative  genius.  Dryden 
had  his  day  and  did  his  work  and  need  not  be  re- 
called. The  period  of  expansion  in  our  prose  is  the 
best,  among  other  reasons,  for  this,  that  it  is  the  most 
spontaneous  and  informal  and  yet  according  to  law. 
English  Poetry  is  fast  succumbing  to  this  unimpas- 
sioned  ideal  and  is  thereby  losing  its  hold  on  the 
modern  mind  It  lies  in  the  line  of  the  best  interests 
of  our  prose  to  conserve  this  intrinsic  element,  and 
give  it  all  healthful  scope  as  guided  and  guarded  by 
rational  principle. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

PHILOSOPHICAL   OE  DIDACTIC   PROSE. 

The  term — philosophical — is  not  used  here  in  its 
technical  sense  as  applied  to  the  speculative  or  meta- 
physical, but  in  its  more  general  sense  of  scholarly, 
intellectual  or  dignified  prose.  The  term,  didactic  or 
reflective  will  express  it  It  is  not  mainly  historical, 
descriptive  or  impassioned,  nor  does  it  include  these 
elements  to  any  marked  degree.  As  contemplative 
and  instructive,  it  differs  from  them  as  it  also  does 
from  that  spacious  province  of  prose  included  under 
the  name — Miscellaneous.  It  has  an  individuality  of 
its  own. 

The  most  restricted  use  of  the  word  Philosophy 
would  mean — Mental  Philosophy  (Psychology,  Meta- 
physics). In  this  sense,  philosophical  prose  would 
mean  the  actual  prose  of  philosophy  as  a  separate 
department  as  seen  in  Locke,  Berkeley,  James  Mill, 
Stewart,  Hamilton  and  others.  This  is,  of  course,  ex- 
cluded. A  wider  use  is  indicated  in  the  terms — 
Philosophy,  Science,  Art  and  Literature.  Here  the 
word  includes — Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  Logic 
and  so  on.  In  such  a  usage,  the  prose  would  be 
represented  in  the  works  of  those  respective  branches 
of  learning.     The  university  use  of  this  word  as  seen 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS. — PHILOSOPHIC.       173 

in  the  Doctorate  of  Philosophy  is  this  wider  one  and 
includes  even  Language  and  Literature.  A  further 
peculiar  and  confusing  use  of  this  word  is  seen  in  the 
bense  of  Science  as  in  the  Phrases — Mental  Science, 
Moral  Science,  Natural  Science  and  so  on,  where  the 
words  Science  and  Philosophy  are  strangely  mixed. 

No  one  of  these  uses  is  in  place  in  the  discussion 
before  us. 

Philosophical  Prose  means  here,  unimpassioned 
prose.  It  is  marked  by  the  absence  of  graphic,  fig- 
urative and  oratorical  elements.  It  is  temperate, 
even,  academic  and  intellectual.  It  has  a  high  de- 
gree of  literary  gravity  and  is  the  golden  mean  between 
the  lighter  and  the  heavier  forms.  It  is  not  super- 
ficial on  the  one  hand  nor  is  it,  on  the  other,  heavy 
and  repulsive.  It  is  an  order  of  prose  we  may  add, 
germane  to  the  calm  and  reflective  character  of  the 
highest  minds.  It  is  a  style  of  writing  in  which 
principles  are  discussed  more  than  facts;  laws  and 
causes,  more  than  special  applications.  Its  method 
is  wide  and  broad.  It  reaches  the  frontiers  and 
foundations  of  things.  Nothing  short  of  thorough- 
ness will  satisfy  it  as  a  method.  A  few  examples  of 
it  outside  of  the  region  of  Philosophy  Proper  will 
illustrate  its  meaning  and  its  power.  It  is  seen 
in  Hooker,  Adam  Smith,  Alison,  Chillingworth, 
Barrow,  Butler,  Warburton,  Charnock,  Whewill  and 
others.  These  men  were  not  writers  on  Mental 
Science  distinctively;  they  wrote  on  theology,  social 
economy,  history,  and  literature  and  kindred  sub- 
jects. In  fine,  they  wrote  not  on  philosophy  as  a 
specific  subject,  but  on  all  subjects  philosophically. 

Froude  and  Bancroft,  have  written  philosophically 


174  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

on  history  as  Devey  has  on  English  Poetry  and  Gui- 
zot  on  European  Civilization.  These  names  will  mark 
it  as  an  order  of  prose  by  itself.  Mr.  Emerson  of  our 
own  country,  is  in  the  main,  a  philosophical  writer  on 
general  topics,  though  his  too  frequent  obscurity 
detracts  much  from  the  merit  of  his  style.  The  phil- 
osophical style  is  as  clear  as  it  is  profound. 

(A.)  Characteristics. 

1.    Unimpassioned. 

This  allies  it  somewhat  to  the  Historical  order  of 
writing  and  marks  it  as  distinct  from  the  Oratorical. 
It  has  little  to  do  with  the  emotions  as  a  separate 
part  of  the  nature  of  man.  Its  object  is  fully  gained 
when  in  the  clear,  white  light  of  reason,  the  subject 
is  made  plain  to  the  rational  understanding  of  the 
reader.  The  older  writers  would  have  called  it,  the 
Expository  or  Explanatory  Form  by  which  the  topic 
is  made  plain  through  an  unadorned  presentation  of 
it  to  the  mind.  It  aims  to  establish  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  idea  rather  than  its  truth  or  falsity — to  en- 
lighten rather  than  convince.  In  sacred  discourse 
this  is  often  seen  in  what  is  called — the  expository 
method.  There  is,  even  in  the  popular  use  of  this 
word,  this  idea  of  dispassionateness.  Men  are  said 
to  take  life  philosophically,  when  they  accept  its 
events  and  issues  without  any  special  feeling. 

2.    Thorough  in  Method  and  Aim. 

There  is  a  virtual  antithesis  between  the  terms — 
philosophical  and  superficial.  This  general  use  of 
the  term  is  undoubtedly  derived  from  its  special  use 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— PHILOSOPHIC.      175 

as   denoting   Mental    Philosophy.     This   department 
of  thought,  having  to  do  above  all  others,  with  the 
most  profound  questions  of  human  interest,  the  very 
word,    philosophical,  even  in  its    popular  sense  has 
retained  the  generic  idea  of  profundity  and  thorough- 
ness.    The    very    nature    of  it   excludes   the    hasty, 
imperfect  or  desultory  treatment  of  a  theme.      In  this 
respect,  philosophical  prose  means  a  solid,  substantial 
order  of  prose,  one  that  carries  its  own  force  with  it 
and  whose  fitting  illustration  demands,  on   the  part 
of  the    writer,    a    profound    and   substantial    mind. 
This    is    a    species    of    prose    to     which    Bacon    had 
reference    when  he  said:  "Studies  serve  for  ability* 
Read  to  weigh  and  consider.     Some  books  are  to  be 
chewed  and    digested,  to  be    read  wholly  and  with 
diligence."     It  is  safe  to  say,  that  for  this  reason,  if 
for  no  other,  a  literature  cannot  be  said  to  be  com- 
plete or  excellent  without   a   good    degree    of  such 
prose.      It   acts'  as   a   conservative    element   among 
others  less  stable.     It  steadies  and  balances  a  litera- 
ture as  ballast  does  a  vessel.     Periods  may  be  classi- 
fied as  safe  or  excessive  by  the  presence  or  absence 
of  it.      It  marks  the  Formative,  Settled  and  Expansive 
eras  of  our  prose.     In  the  Transitive  era  it  was  much 
less  conspicuous,  but  had  it  not  been  for  its  partial 
presence,    the    results    would    have    been    far    more 
disastrous.       It   may    be    added    here    that    what    is 
called,  a  thoughtful  or   suggestive  style,    is   germane 
to  this  order  of  prose.     From  the  fact  that  it  deals 
with  great  principles  in  a  weighty  way,  the  expres- 
sion   would  be  but  the    outward  form    of  the    ideafc 
behind  it,  and    far   more    would   be   intimated  than 
could  be  stated.    The  ideas  as  germinal  and  potential 


176  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

would  beget  other  related  ideas  in  continuous  succes- 
sion, so  as  to  make  the  style  full  of  intellectual 
stimulus.  In  this  regard,  it  is  a  type  of  prose  whose 
excellence  increases  with  the  mental  maturity  of  the 
writer.  It  is  alike  a  cause  and  a  result  of  such 
maturity. 

3.  Sedate  and  Dignified. 

This  amounts  almost  to  a  moral  quality  in  this 
type  of  prose — the  natural  expression  of  the  soul 
when  in  its  contemplative  moods  and  the  natural 
expression  of  the  English  mind  as  distinct  from  the 
South  European.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  find 
it  in  every  period  of  our  literature  and  most  marked 
in  those  eras  when  ethical  influences  are  the  most 
active.  Gravity  is  said  to  be  a  mark  of  the  higher 
order  of  historical  prose,  as  of  other  forms.  It  is  so 
when  they  are  the  most  philosophical,  while  in 
philosophic  prose  itself  it  is  a  vital  element.  Its 
unimpassioned  and  profound  character  would  demand 
this  and  no  excuse  would  be  accepted  for  its  omis- 
sion. It  corresponds  in  prose  to  the  principle  of 
moral  sublimity  in  poetry  and  its  effect  is  similarly 
great.  It  demands  that  the  theme,  method  of  dis- 
cussion and  the  special  aim  of  the  writing  be  lofty 
rather  than  low,  on  a  spacious  and  not  a  narrow 
scale  and  that  the  result  be  morally  elevating. 
When  Herbert  Spencer  writes  on — The  Philosophy  of 
Style,  or  Campbell  on — The  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric, 
or  Schlegel  on — The  Philosophy  of  Life  and  Language 
they  write  philosophically  in  that  the  discourse  is 
marked  by  a  literary  and  moral  dignity  throughout. 
This  form  of  prose  never  descends  to  the  trivial  or 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— PHILOSOPHIC.       177 

puerile  or  even  to  justifiable  pleasantly  and  humor. 
Its  high  mission  is  never  forgotten,  and  the  fulfill- 
ment of  that  demands  a  rational  sobriety.  For  this 
reason,  it  is  well  that  it  is  not  the  most  frequent  form 
of  prose.  For  this  reason,  also,  it  is  well  that  it  is  a 
distinctive  form  having  place  and  function  in  our 
prose  literature  to  control  more  wayward  tendencies. 

4.  Adaptive. 

This  form  mingles  freely  with  all  the  others,  save 
the  Impassioned,  while  even  there  it  is  not  altogether 
absent  in  that  feeling  itself  must  ever  be  under  the 
control  of  the  judgment.  In  History  it  is  prominent 
in  what  is  termed,  the  Philosophy  of  History  or  the 
philosophical  method  of  treating  it.  Even  in  Prose 
Fiction,  there  is  the  Philosophical  Novel  in  which 
character  is  profoundly  studied  and  where  the  ethical 
features  are  made  prominent. 

In  oratorical  prose  other  elements  are  more  marked 
and  yet,  in  judicial  and  sacred  discourse  most  especi- 
ally, the  meditative  and  the  moral  are  present  and 
potential  and  lend  a  philosophic  cast.  Judicial  prose 
is  in  its  very  nature  dispassionate  and  dignified. 

In  Miscellaneous  Prose,  where  all  the  forms  find 
place  this,  of  course,  has  a  place  where  any  specific 
subject  is  discussed  after  a  philosophical  manner. 

5.  A  Prose  Form,  Distinctively. 

There  is  a  species  of  poetry  called  Philosophic  or 
Didactic.  It  is.  however,  exceptional  and  question- 
able. If  in  addition  to  the  metrical  form  of  verse,  it 
be  required  that  it  be  essentially  poetic,  marked  by 
imagination,  passion  and  a  purpose  to  please,  it  is  an 


178  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

open  question  with  some  whether  such  verse  is 
poetry  at  all.  Pope's  Essay  on  Man  and  on  Criticism 
are  styled  Prose  Poems,  by  way  of  compromise.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  we  have  seen,  there  is  some  prose 
su  poetical  that  it  would  fairly  find  place  in  verse  and 
it  is  termed,  by  a  similar  compromise,  Poetical  Prose. 

In  the  department  of  Prose  Proper,  however, 
among  all  the  forms  studied,  the  Philosophical  or 
Didactic  is  the  most  fully  prose  of  all  others.  It  has 
the  least  of  the  elements  of  the  poetic.  In  fact,  the 
terms — philosophic  and  poetic — are  mutually  exclu- 
sive; the  one  is  unimpassioned;  the  other,  as  Milton 
holds  "  sensuous  and  passionate."  The  one  aims  to 
instruct;  the  other,  to  please.  The  one  is  full  of 
imagery  and  figure;  the  other  is  marked  by  their 
absence.  All  the  main  differences  between  prose 
and  poetry  might  be  stated  in  distinguishing  philoso- 
phic prose  from  poetry.  In  this  respect,  Historical 
Prose  is  the  only  form  that  can  be  compared  with  it 
as  a  typical  form,  while  in  narrative,  itself,  the  poetic 
and  descriptive  elements  are  freely  applied  as  is  not 
the  case  in  the  form  before  us. 

Prose  in  the  very  idea  of  it  is  didactic  and  sedate. 
It  states  facts  and  truths  plainly  and  soberly,  for 
enlightenment  and  moral  effect.  When,  as  in  de- 
scriptive and  oratorical  prose,  there  are  added  the 
imaginative  and  emotional  elements,  the  normal, 
original  idea  of  prose  is  somewhat  modified  and  the 
transition  already  begun  toward  poetry  itself. 

(B.)  Contents  or  Divisions. 

As  already   noted,    Philosophical   Prose  would  in- 
clude  in   its    most    general    sense,    any   and    every 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS. — PHILOSOPHIC.       179 

written  production  presented  in  a  philosophical 
manner — unimpassioned,  thorough  and  sedate.  It 
would  thus  make  up  the  body  of  its  product  largely 
by  selecting  from  other  forms  what  properly  belongs 
to  it,  and  partly  from  the  classification  of  those  writ- 
ings which  belong  to  it  alone  as  a  specific  form. 

On  the  first  principle,  the  divisions  would  be  as 
follows — 

(a)  Philosophical  Narration. 

This  would  virtually  include  all  that  has  been 
stated  in  treating  of  that  department,  it  being  em- 
phasized, that  Narration  Proper  has  reference  only  to 
dates  and  facts  and  events  in  temporal  succession 
and  not  to  causes  and  effects.  Gibbon  and  Buckle 
have  thus  written  philosophical  history. 

(b)  Philosophical  Description,  as  seen  in  the  gen- 
eral province  of  description  when  applied  to  the 
abstract  una  immaterial  in  ethical  fiction.  What  has 
been  said  of  this  higher  kind  of  description  is  here 
in  place,  it  also  being  marked  that  Description 
Proper  has  reference  only  to  the  simple  portraiture 
of  visible  objects,  and  not  to  the  invisible  or  moral. 
George  Eliot  has  thus  written. 

(c)  Pldlosophic  Exposition  in  Oratorical  Prose. 
This  applies  to  those  elements  of  judicial,  forensic 

and  sacred  prose  where  the  unimpassioned  feature 
is  the  main  one — where  laws  are  to  be  explained,  the 
great  principles  of  political  codes  expounded  or 
divine  truth  elucidated.  Choate,  Webster  and  Ed- 
wards have  thus  written. 

(  d )  Pit  Host '  i  ihic  Miscellanies. 

Here  wonld  be  found  everything  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Essays  and  Discussions  which  in  the  absence 


180  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  historical,  descriptive  or  oratorical  features,  pre- 
sents in  marked  degree,  this  philosophic  character. 
The  style  is  deliberative  rather  than  discursive. 

Most  of  the  best  essayists,  such  as  Addison  and 
De  Quincey,  give  examples  of  this.  Critical  essays 
as  a  class  illustrate  it. 

On  the  second  and  more  specific  principle,  a  dif- 
ferent classification  is  reached. 

Excluding  these  four  classes  already  mentioned, 
this  division  may  be  said  to  include  all  those  prose 
writers  who  have  written  philosophically  and  yet 
who  have  not  written  on  Philosophy  Proper,  or 
Mental  Philosophy,  so  called. 

It  would  include  such  classes  of  prose  and  authors 
as  the  following — already  mentionedas  illustrations: — 

(a)  The  Philosophy  of  History       by  Schlegel. 

"  "    Rhetoric       "    Campbell. 

"  "  "    Language  "    Schlegel. 

"  "   Style  "    Bascom. 

(b)  Another  large  division  here  classified  is  where 
the  term  Philosophy  or  Philosophical  is  not  used  and 
yet  might  be  as  marking  a  peculiar  character.  Some 
of  these  have  been  mentioned  as,  Hooker,  Adam 
Smith,  Barrow  and  so  on.  Others  are — Bent  ham,  on 
Ethics  and  Jurisprudence;  Clarendon,  on  English 
History;  John  Foster  on  Character;  Karnes  on  Crit- 
icism; Temple,  on  Politics;  Walpole,  on  Government; 
Clarke,  on  The  Being  of  God;  Blackstone,  on  Law; 
Alison,  on  Taste;  Day,  on  Science  and  Dunlop,  on 
Fiction. 

Such  a  list  would  carry  us  over  all  the  main  de- 
partments of  human  research  and  reveal,  also,  higher 
tendencies  of  style  and  thought. 


REPRESENTATIVE    FORMS.— PHILOSOPHIC.      181 


Notes. 

(a)  Rapid  Increase  of  this  Form. 

From  what  has  been  stated,  a  clear  tendency  is 
visible  in  our  best  writers  to  present  subjects  from 
the  standpoint  of  philosophic  calmness  and  thor- 
oughness. It  is  one  of  the  best  literary  signs  of 
the  times,  and  serves  to  guard  our  prose  against  the 
excessive  growth  of  those  lower  forms  of  fiction, 
vapid  description  and  rambling  miscellany  which 
are  apt  to  impair  the  vigor  of  style. 

(b)  Relation  to   Writers  in  Formation  of  Style. 
Though  a  natural  and  desirable  form   of  prose,  it 

has  less  in  the  way  of  immediate  result  for  the  young 
writer  than  either  the  narrative  or  descriptive.  It 
reaches  a  higher  range  of  themes;  pursues  a  more 
logical  method ;  assumes  a  good  degree  of  mental 
insight  and  strength  and  is  thus,  difficult.  It  be- 
longs to  later  stages.  As  a  form  of  prose,  however, 
it  should  lie  in  the  line  of  the  writer's  ambition.  In 
all  his  literary  work  it  should  be  in  view  as  desirable. 
It  will  thus,  indirectly,  color  and  mold  his  style, 
save  him  from  grave  errors  and  prepare  him,  in  due 
time,  for  its  appreciation  and  personal  use. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MISCELLANEOUS  OB  PERIODICAL  PROSE. 

Tiiese  terms,  which  have  now  become  generally 
accepted,  are  used  to  express  that  order  of  prose 
which  cannot  be  strictly  classified  under  any  one  of 
the  four  divisions  already  stated — Historical,  Descrip- 
tive, Oratorical  and  Philosophic.  Containing  numer- 
ous examples  of  each  of  these  forms  it  cannot  be  said 
to  have  a  sufficient  preponderance  of  any  one  form 
to  mark  its  special  character.  The  word,  periodical, 
is  that  which  dates  from  the  days  of  De  Foe  and 
refers  to  the  regular  appearance — annually,  monthly, 
weekly  or  daily — of  the  various  literary  publications. 
Periodical  Literature  is  now  used  in  this  sense  and 
applies  mainly  to  the  magazine  and  journal. 

The  term,  miscellaneous,  is  somewhat  broader.  It 
covers  that  large  area  of  prose  product  in  which  any 
one  or  all  of  the  specific  forms  may  be  illustrated 
and  may  mean  very  much  what  we  mean  by  mixed 
or  discursive  writing.  It  confines  itself  to  no  one 
class  of  themes;  follows  no  one  exclusive  method; 
adopts  no  one  species  of  literary  style;  shows  no  par- 
ticular preference  for  any  one  class  of  prose;  and 
exercises  in  this  sphere  a  kind  and  measure  of  liberty 
similar  to  that  which  the  poet  possesses  in  the  realm 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS.— MISCELLANEOUS.    183 

of  verse.  Nor  is  it  to  be  understood  that  the  term, 
miscellaneous,  is  used  to  indicate  an  inferior  type  of 
prose,  inasmuch  as  it  defies  special  classification. 
What  it  loses  in  this  respect  in  the  line  of  definite- 
ness  of  place  and  function,  it  gains  in  another  in  the 
line  of  variety  of  topic,  freedom  of  method  and  gen- 
eral scope.  Much  of  its  attractiveness  to  the  general 
reader  and  even  to  the  student,  lies  in  its  very 
variety,  and  makes  it  accessible  and  helpful  where 
more  elaborate  treatises  could  not  be  mastered.  Its 
miscellaneous  character  need  not  make  it  any  the  less 
clear  or  thorough.  That  brevity  of  discussion  which 
is  essential  to  it  is  a  means  to  clearness  while  as  far 
as  it  goes  on  any  one  line  of  discussion  it  may  go 
thoroughly  and  effectively. 

If,  among  the  forms  mentioned,  there  are  any  to 
which  it  more  directly  inclines  by  way  of  preference, 
they  are  the  Descriptive  and  Philosophic.  If  choice  is 
made  between  these,  the  latter  would  be  chosen.  In 
the  strict  sense  of  the  term  literary,  there  is  no  por- 
tion of  miscellaneous  prose  more  prominent  than  the 
didactic,  as  expressed  particularly  in  the  sphere  of 
literary  criticism.  This  is  a  feature,  more  and  more 
conspicuous.  The  fact  serves  to  show  the  high  char- 
acter of  this  mixed  form  of  prose  and  makes  it  a 
form  interesting  in  itself  apart  from  all  others.  Gen- 
eral as  it  is,  it  has  an  individuality  and  must  be 
studied,  as  any  of  the  others,  on  its  own  grounds 
and  results. 

(A.)  General  Characteristics. 

These  may  be  partly  gathered  from  what  has  been 
stated  by  way  of  exposition  of  terms. 


184:  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

1.    Variety  of  Topic  and  Plan. 

Disraeli  in  speaking  of  this  says,  "  When  I  hold  a 
volume  of  these  Miscellanies,  I  seem  to  be  in  a  temple 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  Goddess  of  Variety." 

This  embraces  a  range  as  wide  as  the  province  of 
written  discourse.  There  is  no  form  of  theme,  narra- 
tive, imaginative,  impassioned  or  philosophic,  which 
it  does  not  logically  include  as  miscellaneous.  This 
scope  of  topic  and  treatment  is  part  of  the  explanation 
of  its  origin,  its  interest  and  its  need  of  iudicious 
control.  Just  because  it  is  unrestricted  here,  all 
writers  feel  free  to  enter  it,  all  readers  find  some- 
thing in  it,  and,  yet,  it  may  overreach  itself  in  the 
direction  of  the  desultory,  vague,  and  superficial. 
Hence,  it  is  essential  to  hold  that  varied  as  the  topics 
and  methods  are  they  must  be  strictly  literary  in  char- 
acter, removed  from  the  merely  technical,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  common  on  the  other.  If,  as  in  Addi- 
son, they  be  often  homely,  they  must  be  so  presented 
as  to  give  them  the  cast  and    color    of  literary  art 

Critics  speak  of  the  qualities  of  style  as,  clearness, 
force,  naturalness,  simplicity  and  so  on.  With  the 
present  form  of  prose  before  us,  it  would  seem  to  be 
necessary  to  ;u]i\,  variety,  to  this  list  as  a  distinctive 
quality  or  to  hold  that  the  qualities  mentioned  can- 
not exist  apart  from  this  as  prominent.  Monotony, 
it  may  be  said,  is  a  literary  vice,  and  here  it  is  argued 
by  special  lovers  of  Miscellaneous  Prose,  that  its 
variety  gives  it  superiority  over  any  specific  form. 
There  is  some  truth  in  this  and  an  earnest  pi-otest  is 
to  be  made  against  uniformity  of  style  in  English 
Letters.     As  hinted,  however,  special  care  is  to   be 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS.— MISCELLANEOUS.    185 

taken  lest  the  freedom  which  is  granted  entice  the 
writer  unawares  into  a  rambling  method  of  expres- 
sion, passing*  in  a  capricious  way  from  theme  to 
theme  and  not  abiding  long  enough  at  any  one  to 
present  it  in  fitting  fullness.  As  far  as  it  goes,  how- 
ever, variety  in  prose  expression  is  a  literary  virtue 
and  Periodical  Prose  has  it  distinctively. 

2.  Brevity  of  Treatment 

The  words  used  to  indicate  this  form  might  be  said 
to  be  synonymous  in  popular  usage  with  the  word — 
brevity.  Each  of  the  specific  forms  is  so  called, 
mainly,  because  it  follows  out  in  a  continuous  and 
complete  manner  some  one  line  of  thought.  It  may 
be  an  historical  narrative  or  a  work  of  Prose  Fiction. 
In  this  the  discussion  is  presumably  limited.  The 
distinction  is  largely  that  between  the  book  or  trea- 
tise and  the  essay  or  paper,  or  between  the  volume 
and  the  pamphlet;  the  one  is  exhaustive;  the  other, 
suggestive.  The  one  is  logical  and  consecutive;  the 
other  discursive.  In  the  one,  the  writer  aims  to  be 
as  full  as  possible  without  being  repetitious;  in  the 
other,  he  aims  to  be  as  terse  as  possible  without 
being  obscure  or  epigrammatic.  As  to  their  special 
characteristic,  it  is  not  to  be  argued  that  every  form 
of  discourse  possessing  it  is  thereby  good  and  failing 
to  possess  it  is  thereby  inferior. 

In  such  a  style  of  prose  as  this,  brevity  is  natural 
and  effective,  while  in  other  forms  it  might  be  in- 
jurious simply  because  out  of  place.  In  other  words, 
brevity  as  a  literary  quality  is  relative.  Applied  in 
narrative  or  history  or  didactic  prose  just  as  it  is  in 
miscellaneous,  it  would  be  more  harmful  than  helpful 


186  ENGLISH  riiOSE. 

as  it  would  defeat  the  very  purpose  of  thorough  pre- 
sentation. Its  effect  depends  on  conditions  just  as 
that  degree  of  variety  proper  to  this  form  of  prose 
would  be  subversive  of  all  method  in  any  other 
species.  Appropriateness  is  a  literary  law.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  Miscellaneous  English  Prose  has  suffered, 
at  times,  from  the  extreme  application  of  this  princi- 
ple. Carlyle  and  his  school  have  been  guilty  here 
as  have  Emerson  and  his  school  in  America.  They 
have  often  been  terse  and  curt  to  a  fault,  so  that  the 
paragraph  has  taken  the  form  of  a  riddle  to  be  in- 
terpreted by  the  magi. 

Brevity  is  perfectly  consistent  with  clearness  and 
when  so  adjusted,  adds  force  and  point  to  the  style. 
It  acts  as  a  wholesome  check  upon  that  natural 
tendency  to  verboseness,  especially  common  among 
younger  writers. 

3.    Unity  of  Benefit — Pleasure,  Information  and 

Culture. 

If  the  general  reader  were  asked  as  to  the  compar- 
ative pleasure  to  be  derived  from  the  perusal  of  the 
different  classes  of  prose  mentioned,  it  is  well  known 
that  the  precedence  would  be  given  to  prose  fiction. 
Statistics  of  libraries  and  reading  rooms,  as  well  as 
the  receipts  of  publishing  houses  reveal  this  fact.  If 
the  question  were  to  be  asked,  as  to  the  comparative 
profit  by  way  of  information,  history  undoubtedly 
would  be  assigned  the  first  place.  If  the  question 
turned  simply  on  the  matter  of  intellectual  culture, 
one  of  the  other  forms  might  justly  be  adduced,  as, 
the  philosophic. 

Without  attempting  to  answer  these  questions  any 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS. — MISCELLANEOUS.    187 

more  minutely  it  is  safe  to  say  that  if  among  the 
varied  objects  of  literary  reading,  true,  aesthetic  plea- 
sure, helpful  information,  culture  of  style  and  general 
culture  are  sought,  Miscellaneous  Prose  may  rightly 
claim  a  large  place  in  the  realization  of  such  ends 
to  the  reader.  Its  variety  and  brevity  would  secure 
these  alike  in  the  way  of  stimulus  and  restraint. 

The  well-read  man  is  he  who  has,  in  a  true  sense, 
completed  the  circle  of  the  best  literature  in  all  its 
forms  of  prose  and  poetry  and,  yet,  were  a  man 
obliged,  from  varied  causes,  to  confine  himself  to  a 
separate  form,  it  would  naturally  be  prose,  and  that, 
the  miscellaneous  style  as  best  giving  him  the  sub- 
stance of  every  other  form  with  the  additional  feature 
of  variety.  Inside  the  limits  of  such  a  form  he  could 
become  compai'atively  well-read  and  be  able  to  give 
a  good  account  of  the  literary  spirit  of  his  country. 
No  such  alternative,  however,  is  needed,  and  when  to 
an  acquaintance  with  other  classes  of  prose  this  is 
added,  just  that  is  added  which  serves  to  freshen  and 
fasten  what  has  already  been  secured. 

The  phrase — General  Culture — has  become  as  cur- 
rent as  the  phrase — Miscellaneous  Prose.  The  one  is, 
indeed,  largely  the  result  of  the  other.  A  wide  and 
varied  literary  training  is  based  on  a  wide  acquaint- 
ance with  literary  product,  by  which  the  student 
secures  breadth  of  outlook  and  freedom  from  formal- 
ism and  narrowness. 

As  to  aesthetic  pleasure,  everything  is  here  calcu- 
lated to  produce  and  foster  it.  As  to  information, 
this  is  as  full  as  the  field  is  wide.  As  to  style,  all 
possible  features  are  found  here.  If  in  history  and 
description  naturalness,  accuracy  and  graphic  skill 


188  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

are  given,  and,  if  in  the  impassioned  or  philosophic 
treatise,  force  and  solidity  are  found,  each  of  these 
qualities  re-appears  in  some  department  of  Miscellan- 
eous Prose  and  the  lessons  already  learned  are  re- 
impressed.  It  is,  in  this  respect,  the  complementary 
and  supplementary  form  of  prose,  as  useful  in  its  re- 
lations as  it  is  in  itself.  It  unifies  all  that  has  pre- 
ceded. When  we  take  up  representative  specimens 
of  this  form  from  such  a  writer  as  De  Quincey  or  Ma- 
caulay,  we  have  in  hand  a  literary  product  in  which 
narration,  description,  passion  and  philosophic  re- 
flection may  all  unite  to  interest,  inform  and  refine. 
Miscellaneous  Prose  is,  in  one  sense,  the  most  com- 
pact form  of  prose,  in  that  it  fuses  many  elements  into 
one.  To  produce  a  masterpiece  in  this  department 
is  therefore  a  mark  of  intellectual  and  literary  power. 
Such  Miscellanies  in  English  may  be  easily  quoted. 

It  is  this  union  of  qualities  that  as  much  as  any- 
thing else  renders  this  form  of  prose  so  popular  and 
current.  None  other  so  happily  combines  profit  with 
pleasure.  It  is  thus  that  Nathan  Drake  writes  in  his 
invaluable  essays  on  this  subject:  "A  series  of  papers 
thus  constituted  and  forming  a  whole,  replete  with 
wit,  fancy  and  instruction  has  been  found,  by  large 
experience,  not  only  the  most  useful  but  the  most 
interesting  and  popular  of  publications."  Hence  it  is, 
that  such  a  form  of  prose  will  find  demand  in  every 
age  and  as  a  matter  of  literary  history  lias  never 
been  so  widely  current  as  now. 

4.  Increasing  Literary  and  Moral  Character. 

The  term,  classical,  in  the  sense  of  standard,  has,  by 
common  consent,  been  assigned  to  this  order  of  pro- 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS. — MISCELLANEOUS.    189 

duction.      British    Miscellany,  as   a   body    of    prose, 
passes  readily  under  this  title.     There  is  much  to  ex- 
plain this.     The  wide  sphere  opened  for  the  choice  of 
topics  and  methods  gives  opportunity  for  the  choice 
of  the  best,  while  in  that  union  of  qualities  to  which 
reference    has    been   made,   there  is  an   element   of 
strength.     One  of  the  reasons  and  indications  of  the 
rank    of  this  form  is  found  in  the  fact  that  nearly 
all  of  the  best  writers  of  English  Prose  in  its  other 
classes  have  done  more  or  less  of  worthy  work  in  this. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  make  up  a  list  of  ai£y  length 
including    these   standard   writers  wdio  did   not   use 
this  form.     This  fact  not  only  endorses   the  form  in 
the  way  of  a  proper  division  of  prose,  but  makes  it 
high  in  character  and  proves  it  to  be  a  fitting  medium 
for  the  exercise  of  the  best  English  talent.     Not  only 
so,  but  it  is  well  to  note  that  in  the  historical  devel- 
opment of  English  Periodical  Prose,  there  has  been  a 
corresponding  literary  development,    so   that   where 
the  first  Miscellanies  were  almost  entirely  devoted  to 
politics,  trade  and  social  life,  later  examples  have  as 
fully  magnified   the  features  of  taste  and  style  and 
general  culture.     In  fact,  the  main  difference  between 
these  productions,  previous  to  the  days  of  Steele  and 
after,  lies  just  here, — in  the  non-literary  character  of 
the  one  and  the  literary  character  of  the  other.      With 
this  advance,  thei'e  has  been,  also,  a   moral   progress, 
and  partly,   as  the  result  of  the  former.     Elevation 
of  tone  and    aim  followed    close   the  improvements- 
ment  of  theme  and  scope.     Mere  drawing-room  gos- 
sip and  society  scandal  gave  way,  at  length,  to  sober 
topics   in  letters  and   manners,  and   the  atmosphere 
was  purer.     The   uniformly  ethical  cast  of  the  best 


190  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

miscellaneous  prose  of  Eugland  is  something  as  re- 
markable as  it  is  true,  and  has  no  parallel,  in  this 
particular  in  any  country  of  Europe. 

The  term — miscellany — elsewhere  has  been  a  some- 
what suspicious  word.  It  seemed  to  mean  to  many  a 
broad  undefined  sphere  to  which  any  writer  might 
contribute  anything  at  pleasure.  Each  of  these  ten- 
dencies to  literary  and  moral  looseness  has  been  nobly 
resisted  on  English  soil.  In  this  particular  American 
literature  as  now  developing,  has  a  lesson  to  learn 
from  the  mother  country. 

5.  English  Origin  and  History. 

Periodical  Prose  as  a  systematic  body  of  prose  of 
high  character  is  especially  English.  It  is  certainly 
more  English  than  it  is  anything  else.  Dr.  Drake 
goes  so  far  as  to  say:  "  The  Tatler  presented  to 
Europe  in  1709  the  first  legitimate  model."  Previous 
to  this,  such  productions  had  been  attempted  in  other 
countries,  among  the  Dutch,  and  especially  in  the 
works  of  Montaigne  and  La  Bruyere  in  France  and 
La  Casa  in  Italy.  Even  in  England  similar  specimens 
were  seen  between  the  days  of  Elizabeth  and  Anne; 
in  Bacon's  Essays,  1597;  in  Temple's  Miscellanea, 
1672;  in  Collier's  Essays,  1697;  in  Lesley's  Rehearsals 
1701;  in  Cowley,  Colton  and  others.  It  was  not  how- 
ever, till  the  appearance  of  De  Foe's  Review,  Feb., 
1704,  that  the  English  and  Modern  Periodical  may  be 
said  to  have  begun.  Here,  as  we  believe,  is  the  real 
origin  and  not  in  the  Tatler  of  Steele  in  1709.  This 
work,  as  that  of  Addison,  carried  on  even  more  fully 
what  had  been  introduced  and  the  way  was  now 
opened  for  unlimited  progress. 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS.— MISCELLANEOUS.   101 

Of  all  the  forms  mentioned,  this  is  the  most  de- 
cidedly English  and  retains  to  this  day  the  clear 
mark  of  its  origin  and  early  history.  The  old 
Augustan  tinge  is  still  visible  in  Victorian  days. 

6.  Human  and  Natural. 

This  is  a  prime  characteristic.  The  keynote  was 
sounded  as  far  back  as  Bacon,  who  says,  of  his 
Essays:  "They  come  home  to  men's  business  and 
bosoms:"  or,  in  his  Preface:  "They  handle  these 
things  wherein  both  men's  lives  and  their  pens  are 
most  conversant,  of  a  nature  whereof  a  man  shall  find 
much  in  experience."  Addison  expresses  the  same 
idea  in  another  form  in  the  well  known  statement: 
"  I  have  brought  philosophy  out  of  closets  to  dwell 
in  clubs  and  coffee  houses."  It  is  this  life-likeness 
which,  as  much  as  anything  else,  explains  the  fact  that 
even  in  the  time  of  the  Spectator,  twenty  thousand 
papers  were  sold  in  a  day,  and  that  the  day  or  week 
was  regarded  as  misspent  if  the  periodical  had  not 
been  read.  It  is  to  the  praise  of  Modern  Miscellane- 
ous Prose  that  while  it  has  increased,  as  stated,  its 
literary  and  moral  character,  it  has  still  retained  its 
naturalness  and  its  truth  to  life.  The  style,  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  word,  is  worldly.  It  is  of  the  earth, 
earthy,  and  aims  to  be  true  to  its  terrene  origin  and 
object.  It  is,  thus,  rather  to  the  credit  than  the 
discredit  of  the  Augustan  Miscellanies  that,  as  a 
class,  they  are  now  but  little  read.  They  were  writ- 
ten for  the  age  of  Anne  and  mainly  apply  there,  as 
those  of  Carlyle  are  for  the  nineteenth  century  and 
may  be  out  of  place  in  the  twenty-first.  Certain  de- 
partments of  Miscellaneous  Prose,  such  as  Criticism, 


192  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

have  to  do  largely  with  the  past;  but  even  here  the 
writing  is  brought  down  to  date  and  we  see  through 
the  eyes  of  our  contemporaries.  One  oi*  the  main 
benelits  of  this  prose  to  the  general  reader  and  to  the 
student  of  style  is,  that  it  is  full  of  life  and  spirit. 
The  air  is  tonic  and  the  effect  is  bracing.  No  one  can 
make  himself  conversant  with  it  and  keep  himself  in 
contact  with  it  and  be  a  dull  man  or  a  dull  writer. 

Literature  and  Life — has  become  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  Whipple  a  popular  phrase.  It  is  worth  its  popu- 
larity. Our  English  word,  prosaic,  is  a  sharp  rebuke 
at  this  very  point  and  bids  the  prose  writer  be  a  man 
in  living  earnest  as  he  speaks  to  men. 

(B.)  DIVISIONS  OR  CLASSES  OF  MISCELLANEOUS  PROSE. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  the  classifications  that 
have  been  adopted  of  this  branch  of  English  Prose, 
most  of  them  marking  either  the  extreme  of  narrow- 
ness or  that  of  fullness.  The  division  which  we  shall 
adopt  and  briefly  discuss  may  be  thus  stated : 

1.  Essays  and  Reviews. 

2.  Letters. 

3.  Travels  and  Tales. 

4.  Journalism. 

(1.)  Essays. 

This  is  a  term  more  nearly  synonymous  with  Mis- 
cellanies than  any  other  that  might.be  adopted.  In 
a  literary  point  of  view  they  may  be  said  to  cover  a 
larger  ground  than  any  other  and  best  represent  the 
main  characteristics  of  discursive  prose  as  already 
mentioned.     This  order  of  production  naturally  finds 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS.— MISCELLANEOUS.   193 

abundant    application    in    each   of  the    four    special 
forms  of  prose  discussed. 

Historical  or  Biographical  Essays. 
Descriptive  or  Poetic  Essays. 
Impassioned  Essays. 
Philosophical  or  Didactic  Essays. 

Such  writers  as  Macaulay,  Lamb,  Burke  and  Bacon 
will  illustrate  these  respective  forms  of  essay.  The 
various  characteristics  stated  under  the  four  specific 
forms  as  separately  treated  will  apply,  respectively,  to 
these  essays  illustrating  them.  The  historical  essay 
is  simply  the  historical  form  of  prose  in  brief  and 
popular  style.  So,  in  turn,  as  to  the  others,  it  being 
noteworthy  that  the  great  body  of  English  Essayists 
is  made  up  of  those  very  writers  who  have  also  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  the  production  of  the  separ- 
ate classes  of  prose.  Each  of  the  authors  mentioned 
above  is  a  case  in  point.  But  very  few  authors  have 
confined  their  work  to  the  one  department  of 
periodical  prose. 

By  the  term — British  Essayists — is  meant,  those 
who,  whatever  their  other  and  more  extended  work 
may  have  been,  have  done  also  an  important  work 
in  miscellaneous  writing, — De  Quincey,  Goldsmith, 
Lamb,  Johnson,  Carlyle,  and  Buskin. 

The  Review,  so  called,  is  simply  a  particular  kind  of 
eRRav  and  needs  no  special  classification.  Its  primary 
idpa  was  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  somewhat  lengthy 
editorial  o;i vin  r  the  views  of  some  standard  literary 
organ  and  founded,  generally,  on  some  book  or  pub- 
lication. Its  method,  as  far  as  it  was  distinct  from 
the  ordinary  essay,  was  biographical  and  critical,  as 


IT)  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

is  seen  in  Lord  Macaulay  or  Dryden.  Thus  inter- 
preted, all  critics  refer  their  origin  to  1802-  3,  the  date 
of  the  Edinburgh  Review,  as  founded  by  Jeffrey, 
Brougham  and  Sydney  Smith.  Its  very  object  was, 
literary  criticism,  often  destructive  in  method  and 
result,  but  still  useful.  This  critical  spirit  is  well  ex- 
hibited in  the  comparison  of  conflicting  schools.  The 
Edinburgh  Review  was  Whig  in  sentiment.  The 
London  Quarterly  that  followed  under  Gifford  and 
Lockhart  was  Tory.  The  first  mode  was  in  what 
was  known  as  the  Lake  School  of  Poetry.  The  second 
had  for  its  main  supporters  the  very  leaders  of  that 
school — Wordsworth,  Southey  and  others.  Whatever 
the  spirit,  however,  the  establishment  of  these  reviews 
marked  an  important  epoch  in  English  Prose.  It 
marks  the  origin  of  English  Criticism  as  a  literary 
ar  and  is  now  represented  in  the  prose  of  Matthew 
Arnold.  Hence,  it  has  come  to  pass  that  among  all 
the  forms  of  essay  mentioned,  the  Critical  Essay  or 
Review  has  taken  precedence  and  bids  fair  to  hold  it. 
This,  in  fact,  was  the  first  occasion  of  Miscellaneous 
prose-criticism.  The  difference  is,  that  in  former 
times  the  subject  of  criticism  was  political  and  social 
rather  than  intellectual  and  literary. 

(2.)  Letters. 

This  is  a  form  of  miscellaneous  prose  that  need 
not  detain  us.  It  is  to  be  marked  that  the  term  is 
here  used  to  express  that  order  of  correspondence 
which  is  literary  rather  than  personal  or  official,  and 
which  is  seen  in  such  intercourse  as  Goethe  and 
Schiller  had  together  by  pen  in  Germany,  or  in  the 
correspondence   of  Fenelon  and  of  Madame  Guyon, 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS.— MISCELLANEOUS.    195 

of  Madame  D'Arblay  and  of  Madame  de  Sevigne,  in 
France. 

Literature  and  Letters  are  one  and  the  same  word. 
Epistolary  writing  in  a  social  point  of  view  probably 
marks  the  lowest  level  of  artistic  composition.  It  is 
even  lower  and  less  substantial  than  the  most  inferior 
form  of  newspaper  writing.  Literary  letters,  how- 
ever, have  their  place  as  a  form  of  prose.  The 
Letters  of  the  Fifteenth  century  furnish  us  an  ex- 
ample in  English.  The  celebrated  letters  of  Junius 
in  the  reign  of  George  III.,  are  such.  The  written 
intercourse  of  Carlyle  and  Emerson  is  of  this  order. 
Further  instances  may  be  seen  in  the  Letters  of 
Sara  Coleridge,  of  Johnson,  of  Scott,  Swift,  Temple 
and  Walpole;  of  Lamb,  De  Quincey,  Macaulay, 
Lockhart,  Cowper,  Lady  Montagu  and  among  the 
members  of  the  Lake  School,  as  a  school. 

Here  is  a  large  variety  of  names  and  topics  indi- 
cative of  the  high  literary  character  which  such  corres- 
pondence may  assume.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in 
this  list  are  the  names  of  many  of  the  best  English 
Essayists,  who,  by  way  of  recreative  work  now  and 
then  resorted  to  the  brief  and  colloquial  form  of 
epistle.  As  far  as  characteristics  and  general  style 
are  concerned,  they  illustrate  the  principles  already 
mentioned  save  that  they  are  the  most  informal 
species  of  literary  prose. 

(3.)  Travels  and  Tales. 

These  are  often  written  in  the  form  of  correspon- 
dence. They  involve  so  fully  the  narrative  and 
descriptive  elements  of  style  that  they  might  be 
called, — Narrative-Descriptive    Prose.     It   is    better, 


196  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

nowever,  to  place  them  among  Miscellanies,  as  rep- 
resenting' so  many  different  phases  of  expression. 

They  so  happily  combine  pleasure  and  benefit  that 
they  are  widely  current  among  the  people  as  a 
readable  form  of  literature,  and  give  to  the  student 
of  expression  some  of  the  simplest  and  most  valuable 
elements  of  style.  In  their  best  form  they  are 
marked  by  accuracy  of  statement,  graphic  delineation 
and  general  literary  excellence.  They  are  often  so 
closely  connected  with  higher  literary  forms  that 
they  may  be  said  to  rise  to  the  rank  of  the  best 
historical  and  pictorial  prose,  while  their  substantial 
character  as  based  on  fact,  gives  them  something  of 
the  philosophic  or  didactic  cast.  It  is  further  to  be 
noted  that  they  constitute  a  comparatively  modern 
form  of  prose,  are  fully  in  keeping  with  the  drift  of 
modern  times  and  rapidly  increasing  in  amount  and 
essential  value.  The  present  era  is  one  of  rapid 
movement,  of  wide  and  varied  observation  and  the 
publisher  follows  the  traveler  on  his  journeyings  to 
give  to  the  people  the  results  of  his  latest  experi- 
ences. The  danger  is  lest  the  literary  element  give 
way  at  length  to  the  practical,  popular  and  even 
mercenary;  lest  the  superficial  rule  at  the  expense  of 
thoroughness  and  artistic  finish  be  sacrificed  to  the 
rapid  recital  of  events  and  scenes. 

The  phrase — Explorations  and  Travels — with  which 
we  are  now  familiar,  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
these  accounts  of  men  and  things  are  assuming  a 
"kind  of  scientific  character,  and  used  to  convey  in 
the  best  form  the  results  of  such  researches  in  distant 
lands.  These  records,  however,  are  more  technical 
than  literary  as  seen  in  Humboldt's  or  Livingstone's 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS.— MISCELLANEOUS.    197 

Travels    and    Researches,     Layard's    Nineveh    and 
Babylon  or  Dilkes'  Greater  Britain. 

Of  the  strictly  literary  order  may  be  mentioned, 
among  American  authors,  Irving' s  Tales  of  a  Trav- 
eler or  Columbus  or  Alhambra,  Howell's  Venetian 
Life,  Bayard  Taylor's  Northern  Travel,  Thompson's 
Land  and  the  Book,  Hawthorne's  Italian  Note  Book 
or  English  Note  Book,  and  Emerson's  English  Traits. 
Among  English  writers,  Dickens'  American  Notes, 
Hugh  Miller's  England  and  its  People,  Mahaffy's  Soc- 
ial Life  in  Greece  or  Eambles  in  Greece,  are  exam- 
ples. These  works  are  composed  on  strictly  literary- 
principles  and  conduce  to  culture.  They  serve  partly 
the  purpose  of  Prose  Fiction  in  the  line  of  wholesome 
entertainment  while  they  are  superior  to  it  in  having 
actual  historical  fact  beneath  them. 

(4.)  Journalism. 

The  reference  here,  is  to  that  form  of  journalistio 
writing  which  is  of  the  higher  order  and  allies  itself 
to  thorough,  artistic  work.  This  is  what  Prof.  Cop- 
pee  has  in  mind  when  he  refers  to  the  Augustan  Pe- 
riodicals as  "  the  real  origin  of  the  present  English 
Press."  There  is  no  room  here  for  the  ordinary 
Newspaper  production  of  modern  times,  but  for  high 
class  editorial  work  as  seen  in  the  best  specimens  of 
British  Journalism.  Strictly  speaking,  Modern  Jour- 
nalism, if  by  that  is  meant,  the  Daily  Newspaper 
Press,  does  not  belong  to  the  province  of  Literary 
Prose.  .  Its  method,  immediate  end  and  actual  visible 
result  preclude  this.  This  is  no  fault  of  its  own.  In 
the  nature  of  the  case,  it  cannot  be  held  to  strict,  ac- 
count in  these  particulars.     If  current  journalism   is 


198  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

m  the  main  clear  and  accurate  in  style  and  in  the 
line  of  moral  propriety  it  has  accomplished  its  end. 
If  by  journalism,  however,  is  meant  the  entire  depart- 
ment of  magazine  production,  monthly,  bi-monthly 
and  quarterly,  as  seen  in  the  leading  magazines  of 
Modern  Times,  then  it  takes  on  a  distinct  literary  char- 
acter and  is  sufficiently  described  under  the  general 
head  of  Essays  and  Reviews  as  discussed.  It  is  sug- 
gestive to  note  that  the  connection  between  the  lower 
and  the  higher  forms  of  journalism,  between  the 
newspaper  and  the  magazine,  is  found  in  the  daily 
editorial  article  wherein,  on  the  basis  of  facts  and 
items  the  editor  rises  to  general  principles  and  acts, 
for  the  time,  the  part  of  the  literary  author.  Herein, 
lies  the  hope  of  Modern  Journalism  and  its  claim  to 
professional  rank.  If  it  is  true  that  the  London 
Times  is  not  only  a  mighty  political  and  social  power 
in  England,  but  a  literary  daily  in  its  tone  and  cast, 
and  acknowledged  as  such  by  men  of  distinction,  it 
follows  that  such  an  order  of  Journalism  is  possible 
and  should  more  abound.  The  Modern  Newspaper 
must  exist  as  a  paper  of  news,  but  in  connection  with 
this,  the  leaders  of  the  English  and  American  Press 
can  do  no  better  work  for  popular  English,  public 
morality  and  the  general  good  than  by  giving  to 
journalism  enough  at  least,  of  a  literary  character  to 
ally  it  with  all  our  best  English  Prose. 

Inferences. 

1.    The  Relation  of  Prose  Forms  to  Prose  Periods. 

The  peculiar  adaptation  of  English  Prose  to  the  re- 
spective eras  in  which  it  has  been  produced  is  worthy 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS.— MISCELLANEOUS.    199 

of  special  notice.  It  is  not  meant  that  this  adjust- 
ment can  be  discerned  at  every  point  along  the  line 
of  the  history,  but  can  be  so  discerned  at  the  salient 
points  as  to  make  the  relationship  logical  and  vital. 

The  names  of  the  periods  which  we  have  selected 
have  been  selected  on  this  principle;  the  name  indi- 
cating both  the  historical  and  literary  character  of 
the  time.  The  Formative,  Transitional,  Settled  and 
Expansive  periods  mark  similar  types  of  prose,  re- 
spectively. Baconian  prose  was  formative,  and  as 
such,  would  have  been  out  of  place  and  time  at  any 
later  period.  Addisonian  prose,  in  the  days  of  Ba- 
con would  have  been  similarly  untimely  as  that  of 
the  school  of  Dryden  would  be  in  the  modern  expan- 
sive period  of  Macaulay  and  Carlyle.  The  difference 
in  these  periods  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  dif- 
ference of  literary  style  peculiar  to  each  separate  pe- 
riod. The  Spectator  was  the  very  thing  for  the  age 
of  Anne,  but  would  not  do  for  that  of  Victoria.  It 
would  be  as  difficult  to  conceive  of  Hooker  writing 
for  the  Spectator  as  of  Steele  writing  the  Polity,  and 
this,  not  because  of  the  difference  in  the  men  so 
much  as  by  reason  of  the  difference  in  the  epoch 
and  tendency. 

If  we  inquire  more  particularly  as  to  this  relation 
of  form  to  era,  it  may  be  stated,  that  in  the  Forma- 
tive Period,  didactic  or  ethical  prose  was  prominent 
as  seen  in  Hooker  and  Bacon;  in  the  Transitional 
Period,  descriptive  and  impassive  prose,  as  in  Bun- 
yan  and  Milton;  in  the  Settled  Period,  Miscellaneous 
Prose,  as  in  Addison ;  while  the  Expansive  Period  is 
proved  to  be  such  from  the  fact  that  all  the  forms  are 
found  in  a  good  degree  of  fullness  and  ever  develop- 


200  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ing.  The  Historical  is  seen  in  the  school  of  Hume, 
Robertson  and  Gibbon;  Prose  Fiction,  in  the  school 
of  Richardson.  Fielding  and  Dickens;  Oratorical 
Prose  in  the  school  of  Burke;  Philosophic  Prose  in  the 
school  of  Coleridge;  and  Miscellanies  in  the  great 
Essayists. 

In  this  last  and  present  period,  now  developing,  all 
forms  are  unified  and  compacted,  by  which  a  variety 
and  vigor  are  secured  never  before  reached.  If,  as 
Bacon  holds — "The  end  of  philosophy  (knowledge)  is 
the  intuition  (perception)  of  unity  "  such  an  end  has 
been  practically  reached  in  the  historic  development 
of  our  prose. 

2.  Belative  Value  of  Forms. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  draw  close  distinctions 
here  and  classify  tliese  varied  forms  on  a  nicely  ad- 
justed gradation  of  higher  and  lower.  As  has  been 
hinted,  each  in  its  place,  is  the  best  form  and  so 
essential  that  any  arbitrary  comparison  must  be 
misleading. 

It  being  understood  that  the  Miscellaneous  Form 
is  illustrative  of  all  the  others,  the  remaining  forms, 
if  stated  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  abstractly 
viewed,  would  be  Historical,  Descriptive,  Didactic, 
Impassioned.  If  all  the  classes  of  English  Prose 
must  be  reduced  so  as  to  embrace  but  two,  these 
would  be  the — Narrative  and  Descriptive.  The  most 
essential  types  of  human  expression  are  the  recital 
of  events  and  the  portraiture  of  scenes.  Hence  it  is, 
that  these  two  species  are  so  connected  in  nature  and 
practice  that  it   is   difficult   and   quite   unnecessary 


REPRESENTATIVE  FORMS. — MISCELLANEOUS.    201 

sharply  to  dissever  them,  while  in  such  a  form  as 
Miscellanies  they  again  appear  as  a  substantive 
feature  of  the  style. 

He  who  is  skillful  in  ordinary  narrative  and  de- 
scriptive prose  has  already  reached  good  results  in 
writing  and  gives  promise  of  high  literary  success. 

3.  Form  and  Idea. 

The  old  question  as  to  the  relation  of  thought  to 
style  is  still  an  open  question,  resulting  largely  from 
the  vicious  teaching  of  certain  French  and  English 
schools  as  to  the  nature  and  objects  of  style.  De- 
fining it  as  merely  the  outward  expression  of  thought 
in  chaste  and  correct  language,  and  magnifying  the 
external  feature  out  of  all  due  proportion,  it  came  to 
be  held  that  idea  was  one  thing  and  style  quite 
another.  What  is  technically  called,  the  Euphuistic 
style,  is  of  this  lower  order — where  vain  verbal  con- 
ceits take  the  place  of  substantial  idea  and  plainness 
is  sacrificed  to  pomp.  On  this  wise,  style,  so  called, 
was  cultivated  for  its  own  sake  and  naturally  degen- 
erated into  the  veriest  bombast.  It  is  to  be  empha- 
sized here  that  the  form  of  English  Prose  as  it  appears 
upon  the  page  to  the  eye  is  a  form  that  embodies 
intellectual  power.  More  than  that,  it  is  itself  in- 
stinctive with  the  mental  life  that  it  contains,  and 
varies  in  feature  and  power  as  that  life  varies. 

'fhe  forms  of  English  Prose  are  the  forms  of 
English  thought  visible  and  open,  and  cannot  be 
dissevered  from  that  thought  of  which  they  are  tho 
natural  expression. 

Descriptive  prose  is  the  writer's  poetic  personality 


202  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

in  written  form.  It  is  more  than  a  graphic  depiction 
of  objects  and  scenes.  It  is  a  portraiture  of  the 
author's  mind  through  such  scenes.  It  is  the  delin- 
eation of  the  man  himself  behincl  the  scenes. 

Prose  Periods  are  vital  by  reason  of  the  forces  and 
human  agencies  at  work  at  their  centre  and  determin- 
ing them.  Prose  Forms  are  immeasurably  more  so 
in  that  they  are  the  express  image  of  the  personalities 
within  them.     "The  style  is  the  Man.'' 


PART  THIRD 


PART    THIRD. 

REPRESENTATIVE   WRITERS 
AND   THEIR   STYLES. 


(A.)  Classification  of  Prose  Authors. 

There  are  three  distinct  principles  on  which  all  the 
writers  of  English  Prose  might  be  classified. 

(a)  On  the  basis  of  Periods: — Formative,  Trans- 
itional, Settled  and  Expansive. 

This  is  i  i  historical  or  chronological  division  and 
names  the  writers  simply  in  the  order  in  which  they 
lived  and  wrote  from  Hooker  to  Carlyle. 

(b)  On  the  basis  of  Forms: — Narrative,  Descriptive, 
Impassioned,  Philosophical  and  Miscellaneous. 

This  is  the  rhetorical  division  and  classifies  the 
various  writers  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  have 
re  pectively  illustrated  the  leading  kinds  of  Prose 
Discourse. 

(c)  On  the  basis  of  Thought  and  Style. 

This  is  a  purely  literary  division  and  has  advan- 
tages of  its  own.  It  is  on  this  principle  mainly  that 
we  speak  of  a  certain  order  of  writers  as  Representa- 
tive, all  others  taking  their  appropriate  places  in  the 
various  gradations  of  rank  below  this. 

While  such  writers  of  the  first  order  might,  as  a 
matter  of  possibility,  be  arranged  under  the  respec- 


206  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

tive  historical  periods  and  rhetorical  forms  of  prose 
still,  this  literary  classification  is  quite  independent 
of  periods  and   forms   and   has  in  view  other  ends. 

These  different  principles  of  classification  may  for 
convenience  be  combined  in  the  division  of  the  au- 
thors to  be  discussed  into  three  separate  orders  or 
groups. 

The  discussion  of  Modern  Prose  Proper  is  thus 
seen  to  begin  with  the  names  of  Hooker,  Bacon 
and  Milton.  They  may  be  said  to  constitute  the 
Earlier  Group.  Whatever  their  literary  faults,  they 
are  strictly  representative.  The  merits  they  pos- 
sessed are  too  distinctive  to  be  omitted.  Though 
not  as  modern  as  their  successors,  they  still  are 
modern  authors. 

What  might  be  called,  The  Second  or  Middle  Group 
of  Modern  Prose  Writers  begins  with  Swift  and  ends 
with  Burke;  including  the  additional  names  of  Ad- 
dison and  Johnson. 

In  these  writers,  earlier  literary  faults  are  fast 
eliminated.  The  grammatical  and  literary  transition 
from  Middle  to  Modern-English,  so  largely  effected 
by  Bacon  and  his  colleagues,  is  now  fully  effected 
and  authors  wrote  substantially  as  they  write  now. 
Still  more  specifically,  the  latest  list  begins  with  the 
name  of  Charles  Lamb.  It  is  the  Modern  Group 
Proper.  It  is  the  English  Prose  of  the  nineteenth 
century  happily  opened  by  Lamb,  Macaulay,  De 
Quincey  and  Dickens;  that  order  of  prose  to  which 
Carlyle  and  a  goodly  number  of  others  have  so  bril- 
liantly contributed,  and  which  in  its  present  fullness 
of  promise  bids  fair  to  surpass  in  quality  and  measure 
any  results  already  reached. 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.  207 

(B.)  Explanatory  Statements. 

(a)  The  dividing  line  between  representative  writ- 
ers and  those  immediately  below  them  is  often  so 
close  and  delicate  as  to  make  absolute  accuracy  impossible; 
such  authors  as  Bunyan,  Hume  and  Goldsmith  being 
placed  by  some  in  the  first  list;  by  others,  in  the 
second.  No  dogmatic  opinions  can  here  be  given. 
A  discussion  of  all  representative  authors  will  not  be 
attempted  in  the  present  volume  but  simply  enough 
to  exhibit  a  comprehensive  and  correct  view  of  prose 
style. 

(6)  Here  and  there,  as  in  the  case  of  Carlyle  and 
Johnson,  Hooker  and  Milton,  authors  are  regarded  as 
representative  in  spite  of  some  gross  defects  and 
violations  of  style.  Their  thought  is  so  vigorous  and 
trenchant,  and  most  of  their  merits  of  style  are  so 
marked,  that  the  effect  of  faults  is  largely  concealed 
or  counterbalanced.  Their  high  literary  power  can- 
not be  ignored.  Representative  writers  are  not,  nec- 
essarily, in  all  respects  model  writers. 

(c)  Representative  writers  are  those  who  not  only 
have  written  so  many  pages  of  English  Prose,  but 
who,  back  of  all  visible  product  are  literary  in  charac- 
ter and  spirit  and  who  are  identified  with  the  histor- 
ical and  national  progress  of  literature  in  England. 
Such  a  fact  will  give  a  rank  to  their  prose  above  that 
of  others,  who  apart  from  this  may  be  authors  of 
merit. 

Such  writers  as  Addison  and  Lamb  are  thus  far 
superior  to  Raleigh  and  Sydney. 

(d)  There  are  many  writers,  who  so  far  as  they 
have  gone,  have  done  laudable  work  in  prose,  but  who 


208  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

have  not  gone  far  enough  to  claim  a  place  as  represen- 
tative. A  large  number  of  our  Miscellaneous  Essay- 
ists are  such: — Cowley,  Johnson,  Wordsworth,  Foster, 
Steele  and  Temple.  Some  of  these  have  done  their 
best  work  in  poetry. 

(e)  All  representative  writers  are  not  representa- 
tive in  the  same  manner.  Bacon  is  so  in  one  sense, 
and  Macaulay  in  another.  Each  is  prominent  in  his 
own  age  and  way  and,  as  such,  cannot  be  omitted  in 
a  discussion  of  characteristic  authors.  The  variety 
of  the  prominence  is  as  great  as  that  of  their  respec- 
tive characters.  Some  representative  writers  are  more 
representative  than  others.  De  Quincey  is  more  so 
than  Hooker;  Macaulay  is  more  so  than  Bacon. 

(/)  In  the  study  of  style  as  expressed  in  the  best 
authorship  will  be  seen  the  true  relation  of  literary 
principles  to  literary  practice — of  formal  to  applied  dis- 
course. The  relation  holds  in  literature  as  in  Logic, 
Mathematics  or  any  other  department.  Whatever 
may  be  theoretically  studied  in  the  line  of  diction, 
sentence  and  figure,  or  as  to  the  laws,  qualities,  pro- 
cesses and  forms  of  writing  is  here  successfully 
applied  in  concrete  expression.  Each  is  important  in 
its  place,  and  cannot  be  safely  neglected.  Mere 
rhetorical  theory  apart  from  its  faithful  application 
or  mere  literary  practice  apart  from  scientific  meth  d 
is  alike  extreme  and  fraught  with  evil.  This,  how- 
ever, is  to  be  clearly  borne  in  mind — that  the  formal 
is  with  reference  to  the  practical  and  loses  itself  in 
it.  The  final  end  of  all  study  of  literary  law  is  per- 
sonal literary  product.  Hence  it  is,  that  literature 
as  a  visible  body  of  thought  must  always  rank  above 
the  mere  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  expression.     Lit- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.  209 

erary  creation  of  product  is  far  more  than  mere 
literary  criticism.  English  Prose  Style,  as  studied 
in  English  Prose  authors,  will  conduce  alike  to 
skill  in  criticism  and  the  higher  skill  of  personal 
authorship. 

Plan  of  Discussion. 

As  stated  in  the  preface,  it  is  not  our  present  pur- 
pose to  give  detailed  biographical  and  historical 
sketches  of  the  prose  authors  whom  we  study.  Such 
a  minute  method  is  in  place  on  the  part  of  historians 
of  our  literature  who  aim  to  be  exhaustive  in  their 
treatment,  as  with  Morley,  in  his, — English  Writers, 
or  Masson  in  his — Life  and  Times  of  Milton,  or  Craik, 
in  his — English  Literature.  At  present,  our  object 
is  purely  literary  and  critical,  and  we  must  keep 
within  the  bounds  assigned  us. 

To  the  literary  critic  is  left  the  analysis  of  the  au- 
thor's style  as  a  product  of  literary  art  quite  distinct 
from  biography  and  history.  The  life  of  any  author 
under  notice  will  be  referred  to,  therefore,  only  in  so 
far  as  it  bears  on  authorship  and  style.  The  discus- 
sion at  this  point  is  one  of  style  rather  than  of  authors 
— the  Prose  Style  of  Prose  Authors. 

In  the  study  now  before  us  special  attention  will 
therefoi-e  be  called  to  those  leading  principles  of  En- 
glish Style  which  have  been  accepted  as  such  by  all 
literary  critics  and  scholars.  It  is  substantially 
the  method  which  Nathan  Drake  applies,  in  his  in- 
teresting survey  of — English  Periodical  Literature; 
which  Masson  applies,  in  his  study  of — British  Nov- 
elists and  which  Minto  illustrates,  among  other 
methods,  in  his  Prose  Manual  and  which  is  becom- 


210  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

ing  more  and  more  fully  the  accepted  method  of 
discussion. 

It  may  be  repeated,  that  our  present  plan  does  not 
necessitate  the  study  of  every  representative  prose 
writer,  but  simply  enough  to  give  to  the  student  and 
general  reader  a  satisfactory  view  of  the  province  and 
quality  of  our  typical  English  Prose. 

We  shall  discuss  the  respective  styles  of  the  fol- 
lowing Representative  Names. 

Sir  Francis  Bacon. 

Eichard  Hooker. 

John  Milton. 

Joseph  Addison. 

Jonathan  Svviet. 

Samuel  Johnson. 

Edmund  Burke. 

Charles  Lamb. 

Thomas  Babington  Macaulay. 

Thomas  De  Quinoey. 

Charles  Dickens. 

Thomas  Carlyle. 

In  such  a  limited  and  yet  characteristic  list  as  this, 
there  may  be  seen,  at  once,  the  Historical  Develop- 
ment of  English  Prose  and  that  of  English  Prose 
Style. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  FRANCIS  BACON. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  in  London,  January  22nd,  1561.  In  Cambridge, 
1573-6.  Thence  to  Paris  with  an  English  Ambassa- 
dor. Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1582.  In  Parliament, 
1584,  from  Melcombe;  1586,  from  Taunton;  1588,  from 
Liverpool;  1592,  from  Middlesex.  Degree  of  M.  A. 
(Cambridge)  1594.  In  Parliament,  1597,  from  Ips- 
wich; 1601,  from  Ipswich.  Knighted  by  James  I., 
1603.  In  Parliament,  1603-4,  from  Ipswich.  Counsel 
to  the  Crown.  Solicitor  General,  1607.  Attorney 
General,  1613.  In  Parliament,  1614,  from  Ipswich. 
Keeper  of  the  Seal,  1617.  Lord  Chancellor,  1618. 
Baron    Verulam,  1619.      Viscount  St.    Albans,  1620. 

Convicted   and   sentenced,    1621.     Died  in    1626,  at 
Uighgate. 

Bacon's  Use  of  Latin. 

The  most  important  fact  to  be  borne  in  mind  at  this 
point  is,  that  Bacon  wrote  most  of  his  works  in  Latin, 
lie  was.  as  Bede  and  Aelfric  before  him,  an  Anglo- 
Latin  author.  It  is,  of  course,  with  his  works  in  En- 
glish only  that  we  have  to  do,  save  in  so  far  as  there 


'212  ENGLISH  PKOSE. 

are  evident  in  all  his  writings  those  general  qualities! 
of  style  for  which  he  was  noted. 

It  is  quite  impossible,  at  this  distant   date  fully   to 

explain  the  reason  of  that  particular  attitude   which 
Bacon    assumed    relative    to    English    and    his    de- 
cided partiality  for  the  Latin,  which   he  loved  to  call 
"that   universal   language    which    may    last  as  long 
as   books    last."     Not   only   did    he   compose    his   fa- 
vorite works  in  Latin,  but  regretted  that  he  had  com- 
posed any  in  his  native  tongue  and  as  speedily    as 
possible,  converted  them  into  Latin.     Though,  as  we 
have  seen,  the    vernacular    was   then    used    by    the 
poets — by   Hooker,  Sydney  and  others  with  efficacy, 
though,  it  was  comparatively  tree  from  the  crudeness 
of  First  and   Middle-English  times,  still,  Bacon  was 
suspicious  of  it.     Specially  jealous  as  to  his  reputa- 
tion, he  felt  that  he  might  as  well  commit  his  works 
to    the    flames    as    to    the    vernacular.     In    a    letter 
to   Mr.    Matthew,  shortly   before  his  own    death,    he 
says:  "  It  is  true,  my  labor  is  now  most  set  to  have 
those  works  which  I  had  formerly  published  (in  En- 
glish) well    translated    into    Latin,  for  these  modern 
languages,  will  at  one  time  or  other,  play  the  bank- 
rupt with  books   and   since  I   have  lost    much  time 
with  this  age,  I  would  be  glad,  as  God  would  give 
me  leave,  to  recover  it  with  posterity."     There  is  far 
more  vanity  than  piety  in  this  outburst;  still,  it  ex- 
presses   his    view.     He    applied    these    sentiments, 
among  other  works,  to  those  very  essays  which  by 
his  own  acknowledgment  to  Buckingham  "of  all  his 
other  works  had  been  most  current,  for  that  as  it  seems, 
they  came  home  to  men's  business  and  bosoms."     It 
is  strange,  indeed,  that  this  far-sighted  man  could  not 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— BACON.         213 

have  seen  the  vital  connection  between  the  currency 
of  the  essays  and  their  appearance  in  English.  It  is 
stranger  still  that  right  at  the  centre  of  a  great 
awakening  of  English  thought  he  should  not  have 
felt  that  the  path  of  Literary  duty,  honor,  and  wisdom, 
was  straight  in  the  line  of  this  home-speech.  It  was 
strangest  of  all  that  a  man  of  Bacon's  acumen  could 
have  before  him  the  actual  products  of  the  English 
Language  in  prose  and  verse  from  Booker  and 
Shakespeare,  and  think  of  this  speech  "  playing  the 
bankrupt"  with  an  author's  fame,  and  resorting  to  the 
dead  languages  to  secure  his  reputation  with  poster- 
ity. It  may  here  be  sugg  .  that  in  Lord  Bacon's 
preference  for  the  Latin  and  his  extensive  use  of  it, 
there  is  a  strong  historical  and  literary  argument 
against  the  Baconian  authorship  of  Shak  re's 
Plays.  These  Plays  are  English  to  the  marrow  and 
bone  i  ;.  lid  hot  have  been  written  by  any  other 
than  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  the  home-speech.  While 
every  English  scholar  cannot  but  regret  that  Bacon 
should  thus  have  misjudged  the  genius  and  ever 
widening  scope  of  his  vernacular,  we  can  yet  re- 
joice in  the  fact,  explain  it  as  we  may,  that  ap- 
parently he  has  outwitted  himself  and  done  good 
work  in  his  native  tongue.  We  cannot  say,  with  a 
recent  English  writer,  that  we  have  lost  in  the 
Latin  Bacon  an  English  classic.  If  some  of  Lin 
best  works  are  what  they  are  in  and  through 
their  English  dress,  English  scholars  should  take 
the  benefit  of  it.  Mr.  Taine's  eulogy  is  extreme 
when  he  says: — "There  is  nothing  in  English  Pr< 
superior  to  his  diction,"  still,  he  has  a  record  as  an 
English  Author. 


214  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Bacon  is  not  the  English  writer  he  might  have 
been  had  he  used  nothing  but  his  own  speech.  Still, 
he  is  a  standard  to  the  degree  in  which  he  uses  it  nor 
must  it  be  forgotten  that  it  was  mainly  in  the  region 
of  scholastic  philosophy  outside  of  the  province  of 
general  literature  that  he  was  Anglo-Latin  in  his 
style.  To  the  student  of  English  Prose,  as  literary 
and  not  speculative,  Bacon  has  few  relations  save  as 
a  writer  of  English. 

His  Prose  Works  in  English. 

Bacon  was  a  versatile  and  voluminous  author.  His 
writings  begin  in  1582,  when  he  was  just  past  his 
majoi-ity,  and  continue  nearly  to  the  year  of  his 
death. 

The  list  opens  with  the —  Temporis  Partus  Maxi- 
mus — and  closes  fitly  with  a  translation  of  the  Psalms. 
It  embraces  a  vast  variety  of  subject — philosophy, 
church  controversy,  speeches  in  Parliament,  legal  trea- 
tises and  discussions,  political  tracts,  ethical  disquisi- 
tions, natural  science,  history,  translation,  apothegms, 
romance  and  miscellanies.  Mathematics  is  said  to 
have  been  the  only  science  with  which  he  was  not 
conversant. 

It  is  with  his  English  Prose  only,  that  we  are  con- 
cerned in  the  discussion  of  his  style,  and  in  such 
a  discussion  there  are  but  few  works  which  need  oc- 
cupy our  attention,  viz : 

The  Essays. 

Advancement  of  Learning. 
History  of  Henry  VII. 

The  New  Atlantis. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BACON.  215 

The  first  edition  of  The  Essays  was  published  in 
1597,  and  consisted  of  ten;  the  second  appeared  in 
1612,  to  the  number  of  thirty-eight — of  the  same 
nature,  he  says,  "  which  I  myself  will  not  suf- 
fer to  be  lost  and  it  seemeth  the  world  will  not;*' 
and  the  third  appeared  in  1625 — one  year  before 
his  death.  This  last  and  present  edition  numbers 
fifty-eight  and  is  entitled — Essays  or  Counsels,  Civil 
and  Moral.  It  includes,  also,  a  fragment  of  an  Essay 
on  Fame. 

These  essays  embrace  a  large  variety  of  themes, 
abstract  and  practical  and  are  marked  throughout 
by  the  peculiar  features  of  the  author's  style. 

The  Advancement  of  Learning — was  published  in 
1605,  between  the  first  and  second  issue  of  the  Es- 
says. It  was  afterward  translated  into  Latin  and 
enlarged  into  nine  books  under  the  title — De  Aug- 
ments Scientiarum — published  in  1623.  These  two 
books  of,  The  Advancement,  constitute  the  first  part 
of  his  work  which  he  called — The  Great  Reconstruc- 
tion (Instauratio  Magna)  as  he  says  in  writing  to 
Bishop  Andrewes: — "For  that  my  book  of  Advance- 
ment of  Learning  may  be  some  preparation  or  key 
for  the  better  opening  of  the  Instauration."  He  adds 
significantly — il  I  have  thought  good  to  procure  a 
translation  of  that  book  into  the  general  language." 
As  Mr.  Spedding suggests: — Bacon  had  no  faith  in  the 
English  as  a  classical  (standard)  language.  In  the 
first  book  he  discusses  the  Discredits  and  The  Dig- 
nity of  Learning;  in  the  second,  he  discusses  Human 
Learning  and  Divine  Learning.  I  lore  again  the 
area  traversed  is  a  wide  one  and  the  Baconian  style 
is   everywhere   apparent.     This   work   is   especially 


216  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

interesting  in   that  it  shows   the    close    relation    of 
Bacon's  philosophical  to  his  literary  character. 

The  History  of  Henry  VII — needs  little  explana- 
tion. In  the  author's  preparatory  letter  addressed  to 
Prince  Charles,  he  says  of  Henry  VII.,  "I  have  not 
flattered  him,  but  took  him  to  life  as  well  as  I  could." 
It  is  a  narrative,  pure  and  simple,  rarely  ever  ris- 
ing to  the  discussion  of  causes  and  principles.  The 
record  goes  on  with  great  simplicity  and  we  forget 
the  author  in  the  story.  This  is  a  true  test  of  skill 
in  art.  In  his  own  language,  he  would  term  it  a 
history  of  "narrations  or  relations."  Minto's  state- 
ment, "  that  it  is  probably  the  very  best  history  of  its 
kind"  is  extreme,  but  reveals  the  attitude  of  modern 
criticism  regarding  it. 

The  New  Atlantis — is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
romance;  as  Rawley  writes  in  the  preface,  "This 
fable  my  lord  devised  to  the  end  that  he  might 
exhibit  therein  a  model  or  description  of  a  college 
instituted  for  the  interpreting  of  nature."  This 
fabulous  element  is  the  main  one  throughout  and  is 
especially  interesting  as  coming  from  the  masculine 
mind  of  Bacon.  It  reads  like  to  More's  Utopia  and 
has  reference  to  a  kind  of  philosophical  golden  age 
yet  to  appear. 

These  four  works,  it  will  be  noted,  respectively 
reveal  the  miscellaneous,  philosophical,  narrative  and 
descriptive  orders  of  prose,  as  already  studied,  and 
serve  to  show,  at  once,  the  versatility  of  Bacon's 
thought  and  style. 

In  the  discussion  before  us,  special  reference  will 
be  had  to  the  Essays  and — The  Advancement  of 
Learning. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BACON.  217 

LEADING  QUALITIES  OF  STYLE. 
(1.)  Condensation  and  Compactness. 

Many  of  the  paragraphs   and  sentences  are  bur- 
dened with  their  weight  of  thought.     They  remind 
one  of  an  autumnal  scene  when  the  trees  of  the  or- 
chards are  bending  to  the  earth  with  their  fruitage. 
Such  a  collection  as  the  Essays  is  a  real  intellectual 
treasury.     The  ideas  are  packed  in  so  closely  as  to 
defy  any  nicer  adjustment  of  truth  to  truth.     It  is  as  if 
the  author  had  been  limited  in  his  province,  and  was 
obliged  from   the  outset,  to   compress  his   thoughts 
into  the  most  limited  area.     This  compactness  of  idea 
is  especially  noticeable  in  that  successive  readings  of 
the  text  only  serve  to  deepen  the  conviction   of  its 
terseviess.      The   a     hor   himself  seems  to  ha--      been 
conscious  of  this  characteristic,  and  to  have  made  it 
from  the  outset  a  prime  object  in  his  writing.      It  i«, 
thus,   that  in    speaking  of  his    Essays,  he  remarks: 
"They  be  like  the  late  new  half-pence;   the  silver, 
good  and  the  pieces  small;"  "certain   brief  notes,  set 
down    rather   significantly    than    curiously,    requiring 
both  leisure  in  the  writer  and  reader."     It  is  worthy 
of  remark,  here,  that  this  terseness  of  style  is  as  true 
of  his  Lati      as  of  his  English   writings    and    arh- 
from  the  fact  that  in   whatever  language  he  wrote, 
his  thinking  was  clear  and   close   and    demanded    a 
corresponding  form  of  expression.      In  what  are  called 
The  Apothegms,  and  Elegant  Sentences,  and  Wisdom 
of  The  Ancients,  this  feature  of  style  appears  con 
spicuously,  e.  g.\  — 


218  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

"He  conquers  twice  who  restrains  himself  in  victory." 

'To  deliberate  about  useful  things  is  the  safest  delay." 

"It  is  a  strange  desire  that  men  have,  to  seek  power  and  lose 
liberty." 

"Discretion  in  speech  is  more  than  eloquence." 

"  In  great  place  ask  counsel  of  both  times; — of  the  ancient  time, 
what  is  best,  and  of  the  latter  time,  what  is  fittest." 

"Riches  are  the  baggage  of  virtue;  they  cannot  be  spared  nor 
left  behind  but  they  hinder  the  march ;' '  or  as  he  says  in  the  Essays 
— "  We  are  to  seek  them  only  as  we  may  get  them  justly,  use  them 
soberly,  distribute  them  cheerfully,  and  leave  them  contentedly." 

In  The  Advancement  of  Learning,  speaking  of  the  use  of  the 
aphoristic  style,  he  gives  us  in  a  single  paragraph  a  definition  and 
specimen  of  it :  "It  trieth  the  writer  whether  he  be  superficial  or 
solid,  for  aphorisms  cannot  be  made  but  of  the  pith  and  heart  of 
science,  for  discourse  of  illustration  is  cut  off;  recitals  of  examples 
are  cut  off;  discourse  of  connection  and  order  is  cut  off;  descrip- 
tions of  practice  are  cut  off.  So  there  remaineth  nothing  to  fill 
the  aphorism  but  some  good  quantity  of  observation,  and,  therefore, 
no  man  can  suffice  to  write  aphorisms  but  he  that  is  sound  and 
grounded." 


This  is  that  kind  of  condensed  utterance  which 
will  not  allow  the  reader  a  moment's  leisure,  and 
which  in  its  Spartan  and  Senecan  brevity  has  called 
forth  the  praise  of  all  critics,  from  Johnson  to 
Dugald  Stuart.  In  its  sententiousness,  it  extorts 
from  a  foreign  critic  of  English  the  avowal,  "  that 
Shakespeare  and  the  seers  do  not  contain  more 
vigorous  and  expressive  condensations." 

In  the  two  treatises,  specially  referred  to,  we  are 
free  to  say  that  there  is  more  mental  stuff  in  the  same 
space  than  in  any  other  similar  selection  from  English 
literature. 

To  attempt  to  quote  any  farther  would  be  folly. 
The  reader  may  open  these  books  at  random  for  this 
Baconian  quality. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — BACON.  219 

(2.)  Analytical  Clearness  and  Suggestion. 

The  subject  in  hand  is  always  dissected  and  spread 
out  in  its  various  parts  before  the  reader  so  that  he 
sees  into  it  and  through  it.  He  sees  it  in  its  nature, 
relations  and  applications.  It  is  a  complete  rhetori- 
cal and  logical  framework  with  all  the  parts  in  due 
adjustment  to  each  other.  It  is  thus  that  his  dis- 
tinctively philosophical  writings  are  seminal  and  ger- 
minal rather  than  fully  developed;  suggestive  rather 
than  demonstrative.  Their  special  use,  therefore,  is 
that  of  education  rather  than  instruction.  They  are 
designed  to  lead  the  student  on  by  gradual  stages 
through  a  series  of  hints  and  teachings  to  the  best 
expression  of  his  personal  powers,  and  the  highest 
forms  of  mental  efficiency.  It  is  thus  that  the  author 
aptly  terms  his  essays,  ''grains  of  salt  that  will 
rather  give  one  an  appetite  than  offend  with  satiety." 
As  examples  of  this  special  feature  we  note  the  Es- 
say on — Simulation  and  Dissimulation — and  that  on — 
Atheism.  In  the  Advancement,  as  Morley  states  it, 
"  Bacon  makes  by  a  sort  of  exhaustive  analysis,  a 
ground  plan  of  all  subjects  of  study,  as  an  intellec- 
tual map,  helping  the  right  inquirer  in  his  search  for 
the  right  path."  If  the  student  or  reader  will  con- 
sult the  analysis  of  each  book  given  by  Wright,  in 
his  edition  of  Bacon's  Advancement,  he  will  see 
what  is  meant  by  this  "  intellectual  map."  His  great 
philosophical  work — The  Novum  Organum — affords 
an  illustration  of  this  analytical  habit  without  any 
parallel  in  our  language. 

It  is  on  the  basis  of  this  critical  and  deep  reaching 
dissection  of  a  subject  that  we  have  in  Bacon  that 


22C  ENGLISH    PROSE. 


in- 


peculiar  form  of  expression  which  may  be  called  v 
dicativc  or  exponential  rather  than  declarative,  entit- 
ling him  to  the  appellation  given  him  by  Taine: — "a 
producer  of  conceptions."  He  suggested  far  more 
than  he  stated. 

(3.)  Inclsiveness. 

The  reference  here  is  to  a  crisp,  curt  and  clean-cut 
style.       It    might    be    called    excisive.      Everything 
superfluous  is  removed.     The   truth  is  given   in  its 
essence.     The  old  terms,  conciseness,  preciseness  ex- 
press it.     Thomas  Fuller  would  call  it  the  "pruning 
process."     It  is  Bacon's   favorite    logical   method  of 
Inclusion  and  Exclusion  strictly  applied  to  the  do- 
main of  rhetorical  art.      While  leaving  nothing  un- 
said that  is  of  vital  importance,    the   special  object 
is,  to  say  nothing  that  is  not  important.     The  writer 
is   here    on    the    defensive   and   resists  the   common 
tendency  to  the  verbose  and  irrelevant.     Even  what 
is  called  amplification  in   literary  art  is  viewed  with 
caution  and  retrenchment  is  the  order.     It  is  in  this 
connection  that  the  epigrams  and  antitheses  of  Ba- 
con's prose  are  properly  noted.     Whatever  might  be 
the  objections  to  them  in  ordinary  literature  and  in 
the   hands  of  unskilful    writers,  they  were  to  Bacon 
the   most   natural  form  of  expression,  and  the  most 
lential  by  reason  of  the  closeness  of  his  reasoning. 
Bacon's  thinking  was  incisive.     There  were  those  of 
his    own    time     under     the     influence    of    Euphuism 
with   whom   this  incisive  characteristic  of  style  was 
the  veriest  artifice  and  who  sacrificed  to  mechanism 
all  beauty  and  vigor  of  expression.     Antithesis  is  a 
dangerous  instrument   in  the  hands  of  a  weakling. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BACON.  221 

The   Pointed  Style,   with  such,  is  all  point.     As  in 
mathematics,    it   has    position    without    magnitude; 
place,  but  no  power.      Bacon  was  intellectually  strong 
enough  to  use  it  without  abusing  it  and  its  effect  is 
telling.     Tis   thus   that  he   speaks    in   praise  of  the 
Queen  "  that  if  Plutarch  were   now  living  to  write 
lives  of  parallels,  it  might  trouble  him  to  find  one 
for   Elizabeth;"    "that    God   Almighty    planted    the 
first  garden ; ''  "  that   in   evil  the   best  condition   is, 
not  to  will;  the  next,  not  to  can;"  "that  the  best  of 
beauty    is   that    which    a   picture    cannot   express;" 
"that  it  is  good  to  commit  the  beginning  of  all  great 
actions  to  Argus  with  an  hundred  eyes,  and,  the  end 
of  them  to  Briareus  with  a  hundred  hands;  first,  to 
watch,  and  then  to  speed."     Such  pithy  sayings  as 
these   are  what  Bacon   called   in   another  saying  as 
incisive  as  any  of  them   "the  seeds  of  arguments  to 
be  cast  up  into  some  brief  and  acute  sentences,  not 
to  be  cited  but  to  be  as  skeins  or  bottoms  of  threads 
to  be  unwound  at  large  when  they  come  to  be  used." 
Sentences  such  as  these  are  sufficient  to  classify  Bacon 
with  the  masters    of  antithesis — with    Dryden    and 
Pope,  Johnson  and  Carlyle,  and  those  of  other  lands 
who  have  shown  special  aptness  in  the  use  of  the 
balanced   structure.     Such   a  quality  of  style   when 
isolated  from  others  is  objectionable  and  serves  but 
to  reveal  their  absence  and  the  need  of  them,  while 
in    connection    with    other   and    higher  qualities,    it 
serves  a  most  valuable  end.     There  is  a  tonic  influ- 
ence in   the  pungency  of  it.     It  compels  attention, 
if  not  indeed,  assent.      It  states  the  case  so  bluntly 
that  there  is  no  evasion  and  the  alternative  must  be 
accepted.     It  acts  as  seasoning  in  food.     It  makes 


222  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

the  pages  spicy  and  palatable  to  the  most  fastidious. 
"  It  is  with  times,"  says  Bacon,  "  as  it  is  with  ways; 
some  are  more  uphill  and  downhill  and  some  are  more 
flat  and  plain."  Some  styles,  we  may  add,  are  all 
downhill  or  uphill  or  all  Hat  and  plain.  There  is 
no  variety  of  contrast.  Abruptness  is  preferable  to 
monotony.  Modern  English  and  American  prose  is 
in  need  of  this  incisive  quality.  Other  things  being 
equal,  it  marks  mental  life  and  spirit  and  saves  the 
book  from  being  shelved  shortly  after  publication. 
Bacon's  best  prose,  though  written  three  centuries 
ago,  is  still  read,  not  simply  because  it  is  in  itself  so 
matterfull,  but  because  it  is  so  presented  as  to  awaken 
interest  and  fix  the  truth  in  the  mind. 


(4.)  Strength  and  Force. 

This  may  be  said  to  result  from  the  united  action 
of  the  other  qualities  or  to  be  the  ground  of  them. 
They  interact.  The  style  of  Bacon  is  solid.  To 
define  style  as  mere  form  or  external  presentation 
will  not  suffice  here.  It  is  the  form  of  substance. 
It  is  itself  substantial.  It  is  thus,  that  in  the  perusal 
of  the  best  prose  of  Bacon,  reading  rises  to  the  rank 
of  a  study  and  his  own  theory  is  carried  out  as  he 
says  in  his  Essay  on  Studies: — "Read  to  weigh  and 
consider.  Some  (books)  are  to  be  read  wholly  with 
diligence  and  attention."  He  despises  books  that  he 
calls  "flashy"  and  like  "distilled  waters."  As  we 
read  the  writings  of  Bacon,  we  feel  that  we  are 
engaged  in  a  mental  gymnastic.  The  experience  is 
disciplinary  more  than  entertaining.  We  feel  the 
healthful  preasure  of  a  strong  mind  and  a  strong 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BACON.  223 

style,  and  we  are  made  strong1  by  the  contact.  The 
effect  on  the  mind  is  like  to  that  of  an  October 
morning-  on  the  body, — bracing  and  vital. 

It  is  thus  that  his  biographer,  Rawley,  most  justly 
remarks: — "In  the  composing  of  his  books,  he  did 
rather  drive  at  a  masculine  and  clear  expression 
than  at  any  fineness  of  phrase."  It  was  this  same 
vigor  that  elicited  from  Johnson  that  high  eulogium 
on  Bacon  as  an  orator  without  which  no  analysis  of 
his  style  seems  to  be  complete: — "  Yet  there  appeared 
in  my  time  one  noble  speaker  who  was  full  of  gravity 
in  his  speaking.  No  man  ever  spoke  more  pressly  or 
more  weightily." 

There  is  no  one  synonym  that  will  better  answer 
to  the  word  Baconian,  as  applied  to  style,  than  the 
word,  vigorous.  In  this  respect,  the  type  of  Bacon's 
mind  and  style  was  closely  akin  to  Hooker's.  That 
same  philosophic  gravity  and  mental  force  belonged 
to  each.  What  Hooker  was,  in  the  narrower  field  of 
theological  controversy,  Bacon  was  as  a  man  and  a 
writer  in  the  wider  field  of  secular  thought. 

Hence,  it  may  be  said  of  Bacon  as  of  Hooker,  that 
his  style  will  never  be  popular  in  the  sense  in  which 
that  of  Goldsmith  is  popular.  It  is  too  heavily  laden 
with  idea  and  substance,  too  condensed,  analytic  and 
substantial  to  admit  of  this.  Whatever  its  incisive 
power  may  be,  or  its  illustrative  clearness,  it  is  too 
full  of  "  sterner  stuff"  to  please  most  men.  Herein, 
however,  lies  its  special  attractiveness  to  special 
classes  in  every  age,  and  herein  are  found  those  ele- 
ments of  power  which  will  preserve  it  as  a  classic  as 
long  as  classic  prose  is  valued.  It  is  this  very  qual- 
ity of  strength    which  exalts   the  Essays  of  Bacon 


224  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

above  the  Arcadia  of  Sydney,  and  makes  it  necessary 
for  every  student  of  modern  prose  to  begin  with  his 
writings  and  those  of  Hooker  as  the  accepted  point  of 
departure. 

Bacon  is,  thus,  one  of  the  best  examples  in  literature 
of  the  true  relation  of  thought  to  expression.  He  estab- 
lishes for  us  the  vital  principle  that,  given  a  method 
of  thinking,  cogent  and  clear,  we  have,  as  a  necessary 
result,  a  similar  style.  Instead  of  shaping  the 
thought  to  the  expression  and  making  the  matter 
subordinate  to  the  form,  the  aim  must  be,  to  reach 
the  manner  through  the  matter.  Much  of  the  merit 
of  the  Baconian  style  lies  in  this,  that  it  magnifies  the 
principle  that  a  well  furnished,  disciplined  mind  in- 
tent upon  the  expression  of  the  truth  for  noble  ends, 
will  rarely  give  utterance  to  its  reflections  without  a 
good  degree  of  clearness  and  force.  The  expression 
is  not  a  something  apart  from  the  subject  matter,  but 
evolved  from  it  by  logical  and  rhetorical  laws.  Ba- 
con never  studied  formal  expression  apart  from  the 
thought  behind  it.  It  is  thus,  that  while  those  authors 
of  his  day  who  polished  their  paragraphs  with  ex- 
treme nicety,  are  forgotten,  the  repute  of  Bacon  is 
fresh  and  full.  It  is  just  because  Bacon's  prose  style 
is  unstudied  by  him  that  the  careful  study  of  it  by 
others  is  the  part  of  wisdom.     Naturalness  is  power. 

(5.)  Imagination  and   Illustration. 

This  quality  is  especially  noticeable  as  found  con- 
nected with  those  already  mentioned.  It  is  question- 
able whether  there  is  a  more  striking  example  in 
English  Prose  of  the  close  relation  of  the  intellectual 


EPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BACON.        225 

and  imaginative,  the  philosophic  and  the  poetic. 
This  faculty  in  Bacon's  mind  and  art  was  eminently 
normal.  With  other  prose  writers  of  his  time — Syd- 
ney, Raleigh  and  Burton,  it  was  abnormal.  With 
Bacon,  the  imagination  was  under  the  complete  con- 
trol of  the  judgment  and  will,  so  that  in  all  its  soar- 
ings it  rarely  rose  above  the  credible  and  rational. 
So  conspicuous  is  this  feature  in  his  English  writings 
that,  with  the  one  exception  of  the  New  Atlantis, 
he  avoids  the  sphere  of  the  purely  fanciful.  In — The 
Wisdom  of  the  Ancients, — written  in  Latin,  he  takes 
special  pains  to  allude  to  the  manner  in  which  alle- 
gory has  been  wrested  from  its  true  purpose  as  an 
aid  to  the  truth,  and  made  to  minister  to  the  wildest 
fancy.  His  method  here  was  not  so  much  that  of 
Paul's  when  he  knew  not  whether  he  was  in  or  out 
of  the  body,  as  that  of  Jacob's,  who  in  his  vision  saw 
a  ladder,  the  base  of  which  rested  on  the  earth.- 
More  philosophic  than  poetic  in  its  quality,  his  im- 
agination nicely  adjusted  the  relation  of  all  cognate 
faculties:  "aspiring  no  higher  than  to  be  a  faithful 
interpreter  of  nature;  waiting  for  the  day  when  the 
kingdom  of  man  should  come."  Hence,  his  simili- 
tudes are  for  the  sake  of  setting  forth  the  truth.  His 
figures  are  illustrations  and  have  that  same  incisive- 
ness  that  marks  his  literal  language.  It  is  thus  that 
in  the  style  of  Bacon  the  gravity  of  a  masculine  prose 
unites  somewhat  with  the  freedom  and  facility  of 
poetic  expression.  A  good  test  of  his  style  lies  just 
here.  To  the  degree  in  which  he  succeeds  in  making 
this  union  and  interaction  apparent,  is  he  worthy  of 
tin-  title  given  him  by  Hazlitt — the  "prose  laureate" 
of  the  time  of  Elizabeth  and  James.     As  far  as  Hooker 


226  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

went  be  was  not  inferior  to  Bacon,  but  Bacon  went 
much  further  as  a  writer,  and  in  that  respect  holdt  a 
higher  place. 

(6.)  Versatility  and  Variety. 

This  will  be  readily  admitted  when  it  is  remembered 
that  the  History  of  Henry  VII;  The  New  Atlantis; 
The  Speeches;  The  Advancement  of  Learning  and 
the  Essays  illustrate  respectively  each  of  the  five 
different  representative  forms  of  prose  as  stated. 
There  is  a  true  sense,  therefore,  in  which  his  prose 
may  be  said  to  be  all-inclusive  as  to  classes  of  style, 
while  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  outside  of  this 
literary  area  he  did  a  large  and  effective  work  as  a 
writer  in  the  technical  department  of  mental  science. 
History,  Prose  Fiction,  oratorical  prose,  didactic  trea- 
tises and  miscellanies  are  all  exhibited,  unified 
and  controlled  by  the  didactic -as  the  prime  character- 
istic. It  is  safe  to  say  that  we  look  in  vain  along  the 
line  of  English. Prose  Literature  for  any  author  who 
exhibits  a  more  varied  combination  of  qualities  and 
kinds  of  style.  Johnson  and  Carlyle  approximate 
him  the  nearest. 

Versatility  in  itself  is  not  a  mark  of  power.  With 
many  it  is  the  very  sign  of  weakness  and  means  the 
superficial  and  shallow.  With  Bacon,  it  is  otherwise. 
He  had  "  large  discourse  of  reason  looking  before  and 
after."  He  complained  of  the  statesmen  of  his  time 
"  that  they  never  looked  ahead  into  universality" 
and  dedicated  his  New  Atlantis  "  to  the  enlarging  of 
the  bounds  of  human  empire."  With  Bacon,  versati- 
lity was  a  necessity.     His  capacious  mind  demanded 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BACON.  227 

various  outlets  and  forms  of  expression.  He  passes 
by  easy  transitions  from  history  to  philosophy;  from 
essays  to  speeches  and  romance.  He  aimed  to  live 
on  his  own  theory :  "  Whatever  is  worthy  of  exist- 
ence is  worthy,  also,  to  be  known."  This  diversity 
of  intellect  and  style  makes  ever  new  claims  upon 
the  interest  of  the  reader  and  adds  new  profit.  As 
his  biographer  states:  "He  had  not  his  knowledge 
from  books  but  from  some  grounds  and  notions 
within  himself."  Had  his  moral  character  remained 
unsullied,  he  would  still  be  the  most  commanding 
presence  in  English  Prose,  and  next  to  Shakespeare 
in  English  Letters.  The  open  question  as  to  the 
authorship  of  the  Shakespearian  Plays  connects  the 
two  names  more  closely  still.  From  the  imaginative 
and  versatile  elements  of  his  style,  this  question  of 
authorship  has  not  failed  to  seek  material  in  his 
favor. 

MAIN   FAULTS  OR   DEFECTS   OF   HIS  STYLE. 

(1.)  Want  of  a  Pure  English  Diction. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  endorse  the  extreme  view 
of  Minto  as  to  the  simplicity  of  Bacon's  language. 
Even  if  we  confine  ourselves  to  his  purely  English 
works,  there  is  a  noticeable  absence  of  a  pure  English 
diction.  As  in  the  case  of  Hooker  and  all  the 
writers  of  that  age,  this  defect  is  scarcely  a  fault. 
The  language  was  in  such  a  transition  from  Middle 
to  Modern  forms,  that  either  grammatical  or  literary 
purity  was  quite  impossible.  This  was  increased  in 
Bacon's  prose  by  the  fact  that  he  was  thoroughly 
versed  in  Latin  lore;  was  in  full  sympathy  with  it 
and,  moreover,    the   very  nature  of  the  subjects  he 


228  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

was  discussing  called  for  it,     If  not  controversial  as 
with  Hooker,  they  were  largely  didactic  and  some- 
what technical.     His  studies  caused  him  to  live,  to  a 
good  degree,  in  the  past  and  made  it  all  the  more 
difficult  for  him  to  anticipate  and  further  the  great 
movement  in  the  direction  of  English  speech.    What- 
ever the    causes,    however,    his  language  cannot  be 
called  simple.     Though  far  superior  to  Hooker  in  the 
construction  of  his  sentences,  he  is  more  at  fault  in 
the  use  of  complex  and  ambiguous  terms.     Even  in 
the  narrative  portions  of  his  prose,  this  error  is  very 
common,  while  in  the  strictly  scientific  and  technical 
portions,  it  amounts  to  a  serious  literary  evil.     He  is 
so  extremely  fond  of  Latin  quotations  and  of  refer- 
ence to  the  older  authorities  that  it  lends  an  air  of 
antiquity  to  the  general  style  as  well  as  to  the  words 
themselves.      As    in    Hooker,    so    here,    words    have 
become  essentially  modified  in  meaning:  such  as — 
advise,  anatomy,  artificial,  censure,  climatic,  comfort, 
convince,  delicacy,  etc.     As  to  obsolete  words,  these 
abound  in  Bacon's  prose :  such  as — adoptive,  adven- 
tive,  casuosity,  cautel,  celsitude,  dictature,  dolation, 
etc.     This    modification  and  loss   of  words    make   a 
glossary  needful  in  the  study  of  Bacon    even    more 
than   is  true  of  Hooker.     Had  Bacon  been  in  more 
decided  sympathy  with  the  English  and  had  he  seen 
what  its  future  was  to  become  his  vocabulary  would 
have  been  more  native  and  simple.     In  this  respect, 
be  was  quite  inferior  to  the  best  poets  of  his  day  as 
he  was  also  to    some    of  the    less   celebrated    prose 
writers,  as  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  Sir  Philip  Sydney. 
Bacon's  strength  as  a  writer  lay  in  those  other  char 
acteristics  to  which  attention  has  been  called. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BACON.  229 

(2.)  Want  of  Development  of  Idea. 

This   was   Bacon's   prime  defect..    He  was,  as  we 
have   seen,    fertile    in    thought,    vigorous,    versatile, 
incisive,    compact   and    analytical,    and   yet,   in    the 
literary  sense  of  the  word,  not  sufficiently  elaborative. 
His  very  terseness  of  statement  and  variety  of  sug- 
gestion led  to  an  undue  brevity  as  to  any  one  topic 
under  discussion.     This  is  especially  noticeable  in  the 
Essays.     Many  of  them  are  painfully  short.     Conden- 
sation overreaches  itself  and  the  reader  looks  for  the 
fuller  statement  and  unfolding  of  the  idea.     Hence, 
that  apparent  abruptness  of  style  which  critics  have 
marked.     It  arises  from  the  too  rapid  transition  from 
point  to  point  ere  the    subject  has    been    discussed. 
In   The  Advancement   of  Learning,  this  is  less  mani- 
fest but  much  too  frequent.     The  treatise  is  made  up 
of  a  number  of  principles  briefly  stated  rather  than 
consecutively   enlarged    and    applied.       In   modern 
times,  this  error  would  be  charged  to  the  credit  of 
undue  analysis.     The  logical  mechanism  of  the  prose 
is  often  too  prominent  over  the  rhetorical  and  liter- 
ary expression  of  it.     By  this  method,  Bacon  escapes 
everything   in    the    line    of  the    desultory    and    dis- 
cursive but  falls  into  the  opposite  extreme  of  being 
too  rijnd   and   sententious.     The   latter   is    the    less 
frequent  and  less  injurious   extreme,    but  still   it    is 
an  extreme.     The   very   ideal    of  prose  composition 
is  that  of  elaboration — the  working  out  of  the  thought 
in    all    its  forms    and  bearings.     Analysis  and    Syn- 
thesis    are    preparative    only.       Discourse,    as    the 
word   implies,   is   going    through    a    subject;    it    is 
discussion. 


230  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

(3.)  Want  of  Literary  Finish. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  imaginative  element  in 
Bacon's  style  but  were  careful  to  note  that  this  is 
present  in  the  line  of  clearness  more  than  in  that  of 
grace  or  beauty.  The  cast  of  his  mind  was  philoso- 
phical and  not  poetic.  All  his  gifts  were  gifts  of 
power  rather  than  of  elegance.  He  had  little  to  do 
with  the  aesthetics  of  life.  He  was  a  literary  artisan 
rather  than  artist. 

One  of  his  collections  he  calls: — Ornamenta  Ra- 
tionalia — Elegant  Sentences.  In  reading  them  we 
find  that  elegant,  means  forcible  or  excellent.  They 
are  a  collection  of  brief  and  weighty  epigrams.  In 
his  Essays  he  writes  on  Beauty  and  Deformity,  but 
speaks  of  them  in  a  physical  sense  only. 

His  great  aim  in  writing  was  didactic.  He  had 
no  time,  inclination  or  ability  to  make  discourse 
pleasing  for  pleasure's  sake  or  even  in  the  interests 
of  literary  art.  He  spoke  what  was  in  his  mind  in  a 
cogent  and  often  a  crude  form.  For  finish  of  style 
the  student  must  look  elsewhere.  Even  Hooker  had 
more  artistic  grace.  Raleigh  and  Sydney  had  far 
more.  What  Bacon  lacked  here,  however,  he  more  than 
supplied  in  other  and  higher  qualities,  and  it  is  on 
these  that  his  style  rests  as  a  standard  for  "  the  times 
succeeding." 

References  and  Authorities. 

Church's  Bacon  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.).  Advancement 
of  Learning  (Wright's  Ed.).  Essays  (Wright's  Ed.). 
Essays  (Whateley's  Ed,).  Bacon's  Works  and  Life 
(Spedding  and  Montagu).  Hazlitt's  Elizabethan  Age. 


CHAPTER   II. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  EICHAED  HOOKEE. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  at  Heavitree,  1553.  At  Oxford,  1568.  Took 
degree  of  B.  A.,  1573;  M.  A.,  1577.  Was  Fellow, 
three  years.  Entered  the  Church  in  1581.  Was  ap- 
pointed to  preach  at  St.  Paul's  Cross.  Settled  at 
Drayton  Beauchamp,  1584.  Received  the  Mastership 
of  the  Temple,  1585.  In  the  Rectory  of  Boscombe, 
1591-5.  Thence  to  Bishopsbourne.  Di&d,  Nov.  2nd, 
1600. 

Prose  Authorship. 

We  find  it  embodied  in  one  distinct  treatise  known 
as,  The  Laws  oj  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  defend  the  Anglican  against  the  Puritan 
and  Genevan  Church;  to  show  specifically  that  in  con- 
nection with  the  authority  of  Scripture,  that  of  human 
law  and  reason,  also,  should  be  given  a  place. 

This  work  consists  of  eight  books.  Of  these,  the 
first  four  were  published  together  in  1594,  when  he 
was  at  Boscombe;  the  fifth,  three  years  later;  while 
as  to  the  history  of  the  remaining  three,  various 
views  have  been  current.  It  is  generally  conceded 
that  book  sixth  has  been  lost  or  so  changed  as  not  to 


232  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

belong  to  the  original  author,  and  that  the  seventh 
and  eighth  books  are  so  interpolated  as  to  be  useless 
as  specimens  of  Hooker's  style. 

Of  the  five  books  that  may  be  said  now  to  consti- 
tute the  Polity,  the  first  one  is  not  only  of  special 
value  as  preparative,  but  is  a  treatise  quite  complete 
in  itself,  having  as  much  reference  to  the  general 
principles  of  all  law  as  to  the  particular  discussion  in 
hand.  Comparatively  little  attention  has  been  given 
by  literary  critics  and  historians  to  the  several  books 
that  succeed  the  first.  On  the  basis  of  this  book,  as 
edited  by  Church,  we  may  secure  satisfactory  results 
as  to  the  prose  of  Hooker. 

The  Timeliness  of  this  Prose  Production. 

"Hooker,"  says  Disraeli,  "is  the  first  vernacular 
writer  whose  classical  pen  harmonized  a  numerous 
prose."  Says  Mr.  Hallam,  "The  finest  as  well  as  the 
most  philosophical  writer  of  the  Elizabethan  period 
is  Hooker.  The  first  book  of  the  Polity  is  one  of  the 
masterpieces  of  English  eloquence  and  excels  them 
all  in  muscular  vigor."  Such  eulogiums  might  be 
largely  increased,  and  must  be  understood  to  refer, 
not  so  much  to  the  intrinsic  quality  of  Hooker's 
prose,  as  to  its  great  superiority  to  all  that  had  pre- 
ceded it.  In  this  respect,  the  Polity,  as  a  work  of 
literary  art,  marks  a  new  awakening  in  the  province 
of  English  thought,  and  in  the  English  language 
itself  as  a  medium  of  expression.  The  sarcastic  re- 
mark of  Cardinal  Allen  to  Pope  Clement,  that  "he 
had  never,  as  yet,  met  with  an  English  book  where 
the  writer  deserved  the  name  of  an  author,"  was  par- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— HOOKER.       233 

tially  true,  the  Scriptures  aside,  with  reference  to  the 
vernacular  prose  up  to  this  period.     There   had,   as 
yet,  been  no  great  prose  production  given  to  National 
English  Letters,  though  the  need  of  it,  and  the  ex- 
pectation of  it   was  felt  on   every  hand.     The  first 
Euglish  writers  had  done  a  timely  preparative  work, 
but  it   was  initial  only.     Chaucer  had  written  long 
before  in  racy  English  verse,  and  Spenser's  "  Faerie 
Queen  "  had  just  been  given  to  the  reading  public; 
but  among  the  prose   publications    of  the    Middle- 
English  period,  there  was  nothing  which  in  scope 
and  intrinsic  worth  could  at  all  be  compared  to  these 
works.     It  was  a  time,  moreover,  of  great  religious 
and  literary  activity.     All  the  most  vital  interests  of 
Englishmen  were  before  the  bar  of  the  popular  judg- 
ment.    It  could  not,  therefore,  be  brooked  that  these 
questions  should  be  debated  and  decided  in  any  other 
language  than  the  English,  especially  when  the  clas- 
sical tendencies  from  Rome  and  Greece  were  threat- 
ening to  become  dominant.     Right  into  the  heart  of 
these  public  movements  and  in  fullest  sympathy  with 
them,   Hooker  entered,  with  his  Polity,  so  that  it  is 
quite  impossible  to  estimate  the  influence  of  such  a 
book  at  such  a  time  upon  the  destinies  of  the  English 
language  and  Literature.     Hence  it  was  that  Hooker's 
great  work  in  prose  was  more  heartily  welcomed  than 
Spenser's  romance  in  verse.     It  revealed  to  the  na- 
tion, for  the  first  time,  the  rich  capabilities  of  their 
birth-tongue  in  this  direction  and  made  them  more 
hopeful  than  ever  as  to  its  future.     It  is  in  this  revel- 
ation of  the  hidden  power  of  the  language  and  the 
awakening  of  general  enthusiasm  in  its  cultivation, 
even  more  than  in  the  specific  excellence  of  the  style 


234  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  Hooker,  that  his  greatest  work  was  done.  He 
stood  jnst  at  the  junction  where  he  could  be  most 
helpful  to  his  nation  and  speech,  and  was  quick  to 
detect  and  embrace  the  opportunity. 

CHARACTERISTICS   OF   HIS  STYLE. 

Merits. 

(1.)  Philosophical  Weight  and  Vigor. 

We  have  already  referred  to  this  in  quoting  from 
Hallam,  and  Walton  means  the  same  thing  in  speak- 
ing of  his  sermons  when  he  says  "  that  he  seemed  to 
study  as  he  spoke;  the  design  of  his  sermons  was  to 
show  reasons  for  what  he  spoke."  In  discussing  the 
different  forms  of  English  Prose,  mention  was  made 
of  the  philosophic  form,  as  marked  by  various  qualities 
prominent  among  which  were  dignity  and  sedateness 
of  style.  Tn  this  respect  Hooker  is  the  first  philoso- 
phical writer  of  English  Prose  as  distinct  from  being 
a  writer  on  philosophy  itself  as  a  separate  branch  of 
knowledge,  and  fitly  illustrates  the  difference  already 
suggested  between  the  technical  and  popular  sense 
of  the  word — philosophical.  It  is  to  this  character- 
istic that  Hallam  probably  refers  as  he  says,  "  that 
Hooker  should  be  reckoned  among  those  who  have 
weighed  the  principles  and  determined  the  boun- 
daries of  moral  and  political  science."  It  is  thus  that 
the  Polity  enters  into  the  sphere  of  jurisprudence, 
sociology  and  metaphysics. 

"  There  is  no  learning,"  says  one,  "  that  this  man 
has  not  searched  into;  nothing  is  too  hard  for  his 
understanding."     Hooker  was  a    philosopher  in    the 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— HOOKER.       235 

etymological  sense  of  the  word — a  lover  of  wisdom — 
and  in  the  wider  sense — an  inquirer  into  the  nature, 
causes  and  relations  of  things.  He  was  thoroughly 
intellectual  in  his  method  of  thinking  and  writing, 
and  often,  in  deference  to  his  readers,  denied  himself 
the  privilege  of  going  as  deep  as  he  would  like.  His 
favorite  words  are,  foundation,  root,  origin,  principle, 
reason, — all  having  to  do  with  the  essential  and  un- 
seen. It  was  impossible  for  him  to  be  superficial  in 
his  expression  of  thought.  He  brings  into  view,  as  a 
philosopher,  the  completed  circle  of  laws,  human  and 
divine;  descants  upon  the  origin,  nature  and  appli- 
cation of  law;  on  the  relation  of  will  to  action;  on 
the  doctrine  of  first  truths;  on  true  and  false  sys- 
tems of  education,  and  on  kindred  topics.  In  the 
presentation  of  some  of  these,  such  as,  the  final  end 
of  God  in  creation,  his  method,  diction  and  general 
style  i-emind  one  forcibly  of  the  American  Edwards. 
In  this  particular  he  was,  also,  similar  to  the  distin- 
guished Bacon  who  was  born  but  eight  years  later 
and  whose  great  work  on  philosophy  appeared  about 
a  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  first  part  of  the 
Polity. 

It  was  reserved  for  Hooker  to  give  to  his  country- 
men the  first  philosophical  statement,  in  English 
Prose,  of  the  nature  of  law,  the  order  of  the  world, 
the  structure  of  society  and  the  functions  of  the 
human   mind. 

Mr.  Whipple  goes,  perhaps,  to  a  flattering  extreme 
when  he  says: — "Should  the  English  Constitution, 
in  church  and  state,  fie  unhappily  ruined,  the  Eccles- 
iastical Polilij  probably  contains  materials  sufficient 
for  rebuilding  ih"  shattered  fabric."     Deducting  from 


236  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

this  all  that  is  overstated,  there  remains  enough  to 
establish  the  character  of  Hooker  as  a  philosophical 
writer  and  thinker. 

The  appellation  given  him,  of  "The  Judicious," 
was  well  deserved. 

Many  of  his  shorter  paragraphs  especially  illustrate 
that  suggestiveness  of  meaning  so  germane  to  the 
philosophic  style,  e.  g., 

"  He  that  goeth  about  to  persuade  a  multitude  that  they  are  not 
so  well  governed  as  they  ought  to  be,  shall  never  want  attentive  and 
favorable  hearers." 

"  The  general  and  perpetual  voice  of  men  is  as  the  sentence  of 
God  himself.  For  that  which  all  men  have  at  all  times  learned, 
nature  herself  must  needs  have  taught,  and  God  being  the  author  of 
nature,  her  voice  is  but  his  instrument." 

"  The  main  principles  of  reason  are  in  themselves  apparent,  for 
to  make  nothing  evident  of  itself  unto  man's  understanding  were  to 
take  away  all  possibility  of  knowing  anything." 

"  The  mixture  of  those  things  which  by  nature  are  divided  is  the 
mother  of  all  error." 

We  have  spoken  of  the  element  of  philosophical 
dignity  in  style;  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  in 
the  pages  of  Hooker,  this  something  rises  to  the  form 
of  natural  sublimity  and  passion,  where  the  mind  of 
the  author  seems  to  be  overpowered  by  the  great 
thoughts  of  law,  providence,  causation,  redemption 
and  God  himself  As  he  yields  to  that  influence  and 
embodies  his  feelings  and  imagination  in  language, 
the  words  are  infused  with  the  emotion  of  his  soul, 
and  his  paragraphs  have  a  Miltonic  grandeur  about 
them.  There  is  much  in  Hooker  that  prefigures  the 
majesty  of  Milton. 

While  these  passages  of  eloquent  passion  are  not 
numerous  enough  to  accord  to  Hooker  the  character 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— HOOKER.       237 

of  an  impassioned  and  imaginative  writer,  still  they 
occur  sufficiently  often  to  relieve  the  didactic  heavi- 
ness of  the  style  and  to  reveal  the  possibilities  of  the 
author's  literary  art.  This  passionate  and  poetic 
element  was  latent  in  his  soul,  and,  perchance,  with 
a  different  theme  and  aim  would  have  expressed  it- 
self in  far  more  pronounced  forms.  He  was  a  man 
of  large  nature  and  ever  tended  to  rise  above  the 
merely  expository  and  didactic  into  the  broader  realm 
of  the  persuasive  and  emotional. 

(2.)  Logical  Sequence  and  Order — Unity. 

This  follows  closely  upon  the  former  quality  and 
has  a  similar  origin  in  the  mind  of  Hooker.  He  wrote 
as  he  thought  and  he  thought  consecutively.  At 
the  very  opening  of  his  treatise  he  formally  states 
the  method  that  he  pursues  as  he  says:  "I  have  en- 
deavored throughout  the  body  of  this  whole  dis- 
course that  every  former  part  might  give  strength 
unto  all  that  follows  and  every  later  bring  some 
light  unto  all  before."  He  could  not,  as  a  thinker 
and  writer,  relate  things  that  were  logically  unre- 
lated, or  state  principles  out  of  their  natural  connec- 
tion. It  is  this  quality  that,  as  much  as  any  other, 
rifted  him,  on  the  one  hand,  to  be  the  champion  of 
the  Anglican  Church  against  her  opponents,  and  on 
the  other,  to  present  to  the  English  public  a  body 
of  prose  writing  marked  by  regularity  of  plan  and 
structure.  He  disliked  what  De  Quincey  has  termed 
— non  Requaciou8nes8  —and  next  to  the  thought  itself 
valued  its;  orderly  statement.  In  this  respect,  the 
Pol ih/  is  well  worth  the  study  of  the  writer.  What- 
ever its  faults  may  be,  the  main  subject  is  kept  cen- 


238  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

tral  throughout  and  all  statements  bear  upon  the  one 
point  at  issue.  The  rich  versatility  of*  thought  in  it 
is  not  allowed  to  break  its  logical  coherence.  The 
key  word  of  the  treatise  is — Law. 

The  subject  of  the  first  book  is — The  nature  of  all 
Law,  in  General.  He  discusses  it  in  three  forms  of, — 
The  Law  of  God  in  Creation,  The  Law  of  Nature  in 
Human  Reason,  and  The  Law  of  Scripture.  Through- 
out the  book,  this  great  regulating  word  and  idea  is 
before  him  until  he  closes  in  that  celebrated  para- 
graph: "  Of  Law  there  can  be  no  less  acknowledged, 
than  that  her  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God;  her  voice,  the 
harmony  of  the  world;  all  things  in  heaven  arid  earth 
do  her  homage;  the  very  least  as  feeling  her  care,  and 
the  greatest  as  not  exempt  from  her  power;  both 
angels  and  men  and  creatures  of  what  condition  so- 
ever, though  each  in  different  sort  and  manner,  yet 
all  with  uniform  consent,  admiring  her  as  the  mother 
of  their  peace  and  joy."  So,  throughout  the  other 
books,  this  regal  word  holds  sway  and  subjects  every 
thought  to  itself.  It  is  a  fine  example  of  logical  order 
tending  to  the  climacteric.  "It  gives  character  and 
basis  to  the  style,  and  makes  it  mentally  wholesome 
to  the  reader.     Such  a  style  cannot  be  forceless. 

These,  as  we  judge,  are  Hooker's  *t*wo  great 
characteristic  merits  as  a  prose  writer — the  philos- 
ophic and  the  logical  cast.  They  carry  a  great  deal 
with  them  which  cannot  be  fully  stated.  They  em- 
body more  than  they  express,  and  on  the  negative 
side  prevent  the  presence  and  power  of  minor  errors. 
They  promise  the  reader  something  worth  the  read- 
ing, and  are  so  presented  as  to  be  intelligible  and  im- 
pressive.    There  is  an  utter  absence  of  the  puerile 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — HOOKER.       239 

and  the  frivolous.  Everything  is  solid  and  germane 
to  the  subject,  while  through  it  all  there  is  a  moral 
sobriety  of  tone  that  is  most  healthful  and  uplift- 
ing. These  are  qualities  somewhat  Elizabethan  and 
English,  and  for  which  there  is  yet  room  in  modern 
prose.  The  later  periods  have  improved  on  the  ear- 
lier in  vocabulary,  diction,  sentence  and  artistic  finish, 
but  not  in  mental  and  moral  undertone.  Each  class 
of  qualities  is  right  in  its  place  and  time.  Had  their 
order  been  reversed,  English  Prose  would  not  have 
been  as  stable  and  substantial  as  it  is. 

Leading  Faults. 

Passing  to  the  faults  of  Hooker's  style,   we  note 
his  Diction  and  Sentence  Structure. 

Mr.  Whipple,  in  his  partiality  for  Hooker  here 
remarks:  "  It  is  doubtful  if  any  English  writer  since 
his  time"  has  shown  equal  power  in  the  construc- 
tion of  long  sentences."  This  language  is  somewhat 
modified  by  Whipple  when  he  calls  attention  to 
Hooker's  frequent  inversions  and  complex  periods, 
"  drawing  on  a  whole  block  of  clauses,"  as  Fuller  says, 
'■'  before  he  comes  to  the  close  of  a  sentence."  In  this 
respect,  Fuller  is  nearest  the  truth.  It  is,  as  we  be- 
lieve, in  this  sphere  of  the  verbal  and  syntactical  ele- 
ments of  style,  that  Hooker's  special  errors  are  mani- 
fest.  It  is  just  here  that  we  must  part  company  with 
those  critics  who  insist  that  in  the  sphere  of  diction 
and  sentence  formation  Hooker  and  Bacon  and  Mil- 
ton are  to  be  favorably  compared  with  their  successors 
from  Addison  onward.  Nor  is  it  natural  thus  to 
nullify  the  law  of  progressive  advance  in  prose  liter- 


240  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

a, hire,  and  expect  in  the  sixteenth  century  what  we 
iiud  in  the  eighteenth  and  later.  We  may  go  further, 
and  affirm  that  it  was  impossible  for  these  earlier 
writers  to  present  an  order  of  prose  structure  equal  to 
that  of  the  later.  The  language  did  not  admit  of 
it.  It  was  in  formation  and  transition,  and  not  until 
the  appearance  of  the  Augustan  Age  did  it  assume 
a  settled  form.  Elizabethan  English  was  at  best, 
Broken  English.  It  was  especially  so  in  prose.  The 
faults  were  the  faults  of  the  age  more  than  of  the 
authors  in  it.  The  writers  of  those  days  could  not 
achieve  literary  miracles  and  use  English  as  if  it  were 
finally  formed.  The  marvel  is  that  we  have  as  good 
specimens  as  we  do  have  of  verbal  structure.  The 
wisest  critics  have  strangely  erred  here,  and  indulged 
in  groundless  eulogiums,  as  when  Dr.  Smith  affirms 
"  that  in  correctness  and  propriety  of  language 
Hooker  has  never  been  surpassed."  Dr.  Drake,  with 
his  usual  judgment  has  avoided  such  common  error 
as  he  says  somewhat  strongly  of  all  these  first 
writers:  "  They  have  completely  failed  to  fix  a  stand- 
ard for  structure:  "and  of  Hooker,  "  It  must  be  admit- 
ted that  the  elaboration  and  inversion  of  periods  are 
such  as  to  create  no  small  difficulty  in  the  compre- 
hension of  the  meaning."  Mr.  Church,  in  his  edition 
of  Hooker,  takes  a  middle  ground,  and  is,  in  the  main, 
safe  in  his  conclusion.  He  concedes  that  the  con- 
structions are  artificial,  but  insists  that  they  are  not 
involved,  and  by  patient  attention  may  be  understood. 
Hooker,  himself,  seems  to  anticipate  trouble  here, 
but  charges  it  to  the  character  of  the  subject  and 
the  dullness  of  the  reader, — "albeit  much  of  that  we- 
are  to   speak  in  this  present  cause  may  seem  to  a 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS —HOOKER.       241 

number  perhaps,  obscure,  dark  and  intricate,  yet, 
this  may  not  so  far  prevail  as  to  cast  off  that  which 
the  matter  itself  requireth."  "They  unto  whom  we 
shall  seem  tedious  are  in  no  wise  injured  by  us,  be- 
cause it  is  in  their  own  hands  to  spare  that  labor 
which  they  are  not  willing  to  endure." 

Apart,  however,  from  the  inherent  difficulty  of  the 
subject  is  the  unwillingness  of  the  reader  to  exert  him- 
self. There  is  an  antique  element  in  the  diction,  and 
a  rigidity  in  the  structure  of  the  author  which  some- 
what impair  the  force  of  the  thought,  and  which  re- 
veal too  close  an  imitation  of  Aquinas  and  Augustine. 
This  want  of  flexibility  arose  largely  from  the  theolo- 
gical bent  of  Hooker's  mind,  from  the  controversial 
character  of  his  book,  from  the  actual  irregularities 
of  Elizabethan  English,  and  from  his  excessive  refer- 
ence to  the  pagan  authors.  Church,  in  his  edition, 
cites  the  names  of  nearly  forty  such  authors  whom 
Hooker  quotes,  such  as,  Aristotle,  Boethius,  Hesiod, 
Plato,  Strabo,  and  others.  While  such  allusion  to  the 
ancient  writings  disclosed  wide  reading  and  gave  to 
the  Polity  a  scholarly  character,  it  seriously  inter- 
fered with  the  presence  of  idiomatic  English  and 
modern  forms  of  diction  and  structure. 

His  love  for  long  sentences,  paragraphs  and  rhetor- 
ical periods  rather  increased  than  diminished  this  dif- 
ficulty, and  made  it  easy  for  him  to  become  obscure 
ami  cumbrous.  It  was  the  German  construction  ap- 
plied to  English  and,  of  course,  difficult  to  adjust. 
Hence,  a  want  of  ease,  grace  and  simplicity,  a  me- 
chanical connection  of  words  and  clauses  sometimes 
amounting  to  pedantry,  and  that  diffuseness  of  dic- 
tion  with   which  the  style  may  be  justly   charged 


212  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Attention  has  often  been  called  to  the  rhythmic  char- 
acter of  Hooker's  prose, — his  fine  appreciation  of  the 
relation  of  sound  to  sense,  and  of  the  general  princi- 
ple of  harmony.  This  statement  is  not  without  rea- 
son, and  yet  we  are  not  prepared  to  term  it  a  marked 
feature  of  his  style.  As  far  as  it  is  found,  it  seems  to 
indicate  in  the  author  the  presence  of  an  aesthetic  in- 
stinct. The  poetic  as  well  as  the  philosophic  imagin- 
ation had  a  place  among  his  gifts. 

Scores  of  good  sentences  and  periods  can  be  gath- 
ered from  the  "  Polity" — enough  to  mark  a  decided 
advance  in  English  Prose;  and  yet  no  reader  will  pro- 
ceed far  without  noting  that  absence  of  true  expres- 
sion, lucid  structure  and  general  neatness,  which 
makes  all  the  difference  between  formative  and 
settled  English  Prose.  In  this  respect  there  is  a  kind 
of  crude  dignity  about  the  style.  In  modern  phrase 
it  would  be  called  heavy  or  prosaic,  requiring  on  the 
reader's  part  an  absorbing  interest  in  the  theme  itself, 
so  as  to  make  its  perusal  in  any  event  a  kind  of  neces- 
sity. The  structure  is  in  keeping  with  the  aim  of  the 
book  as  didactic.  Everything  is  controlled  by  the  idea, 
and  in  the  very  attempt  that  the  author  makes  always 
to  give  the  main  thought  the  main  place,  not  a  few 
errors  ensue,  and  the  result  is  at  times  confusing.  If 
ambiguity  is  at  all  pardonable,  however,  it  is  on  such 
terms  and  with  such  a  purpose. 

It  is  safe  to  predict,  therefore,  that  the  prose  of 
Hooker  with  all  its  excellences  will  find  but  very 
few  readers  in  modern  times,  apart  from  restricted 
theological  circles  interested  in  the  questions  at 
issue  and  those  literary  students  who  make  it  their 
duty  to  read  all  that  is  valuable.     T!>'  prose  is  in  no 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— HOOKER.       243 

sense  popular  and  adapted  to  general  needs.  The 
occasion  that  gave  it  origin  is  past  and  the  style  it- 
self, so  dignified  and  logical,  has  no  attraction  for  the 
ordinary  reader  or  even  for  the  educated  classes  as  a 
body.  The  mere  fact  that  scores  of  words  then  freely 
used  with  definite  meanings  have  now  become  modi- 
fied so  as  to  make  the  use  of  a  glossary  necessary  as 
to  most  of  them,  would  alone  make  the  general  cur- 
rency of  such  prose  impossible.  Such  words  as  abso- 
lute, ascertain,  cause,  civil,  common  sense,  conceit,  dis- 
course, are  of  this  character.  Many  are  obsolete,  as 
impatiency,  indifferency,  intentive,  invertigable,  judi- 
cials,  leastwise,  momentary,  oftenness,  otherwhere,  etc. 
All  students  of  English  Letters,  however,  must  be 
conversant  with  this  prose  and  will  gather  benefit 
from  it  by  being  brought  into  contact  with  its  philos- 
ophic and  logical  vigor.  It  would  not  be  amiss  for 
the  modern  reader  of  the  lighter  forms  of  our  Utera- 
ture  in  narrative  description  and  miscellaneous:  com- 
position to  recur,  at  times,  to  this  first  writer  of  En- 
lish  Prose  in  order  to  see  the  close  relation  of  thought 
to  style  and  the  solid  foundations  on  which  the  later 
unfolding  of  our  prose  literature  is  based.  It  is,  thus, 
gratifying  that  an  edition  of  Hooker's  first  book 
of  the  Polity  is  included  in  that  series  of  English 
Classics  so  ably  superintended  by  Prof.  Brewer.  This 
of  itself  is  sufficient  proof  that  the  prose  of  Hooker 
has  merit  enough  to  preserve  it  and  to  commend  it 
still  to  modern  readers. 

Additional  Examples. 

"  Dangerous  it  were  for  the  feeble  brain  of  man  to  enter  far  into 
the  doings  of  the  Most  High  whom  although  t<>  know  be  life,  yet 
our  soundest  knowledge  is  to  know  thai  wo  know  liiin  not  as  indood 


244  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

He  is,  neither  that  we  canknow  Hiin,  and  our  safest  eloquence  concern- 
ing Him  is  our  silence  when  we  confess  without  confession  that  His 
glory  is  inexplicable,  His  greatness  above  our  capacity  and  reach." 

"  In  the  matter  of  knowledge,  there  is  between  the  angels  of  God 
and  the  children  of  men  this  difference.  Angels  already  have  full 
and  complete  knowledge  in  the  highest  degree  that  can  be  im- 
parted unto  them;  men,  if  we  view  them  in  their  spring,  are  at 
the  first  without  understanding,  nevertheless,  from  this  utter  vac- 
uity they  grow  by  degrees,  till  they  come  at  length  to  be  even  as 
the  angels  themselves  are.  The  sons  of  man  being  at  the  first  as  a 
book  wherein  nothing  is  and  yet  all  things  may  be  imprinted;  we 
are  to  search  by  what  steps  and  degrees  it  riseth  unto  perfection  of 
knowledge." 

"Now  if  nature  should  intermit  her  coarse  and  leave  altogether, 
though  it  were  but  for  a  while,  the  observations  of  her  own  laws;  if 
those  principal  and  mother  elements  of  the  world,  whereof  all  things 
in  this  lower  world  are  made  should  lose  the  qualities  which  they 
now  have;  if  the  frame  of  that  heavenly  arch  erected  over  our  heads 
should  loosen  and  dissolve  itself;  if  celestial  spheres  should  forget 
their  wonted  motions;  if  the  times  and  seasons  of  the  year  should 
blend  themselves  by  disordered  mixture,  the  clouds  give  no  rain 
and  the  fruits  of  the  earth  pine  away  as  children  at  the  withered 
breasts  of  their  mothers — what  would  become  of  man  himself  whom 
these  things  now  do  all  serve?  " 

Such  paragraphs  as  these  are  not  infrequent,  and 
they  mark  the  comparatively  high  development  which 
the  native  language  and  prose  had  already  reached. 
Hooker  and  Bacon  were  doing  for  prose  what  Shake- 
speare and  the  dramatists  were  doing  for  poetry. 
The  Polity  was  more  than  a  polemic  treatise  in 
favor  of  the  Anglican  Church.  It  was  the  written 
expression  of  what  the  language  could  be  made  to 
do  as  thus  far  advanced  and  in  this  particular  was  a 
masterpiece  in  its  day. 

The  way  was  now  fully  prepared  for  all  later  work- 
ers, nor  was  there  long  delay.  In  the  same  year  in 
which  the  fifth  book  of  the  Polity  appeared  (  1597) 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— HOOKER.       245 

there  appeared  also  the  Essays  of  Lord  Bacon  and  the 
future  of  English  Prose  was  assured.  One  philosophic 
writer  gives  way  to  another  and  the  same  strong, 
sturdy,  vigorous  form  of  English  is  still  maintained 
and  transmitted.  Our  Formative  Prose,  whatever  it 
was  or  was  not,  was  intellectually  vital,  and  hence, 
must  abide. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Church's  Edition  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity  (Bk.  I). 
Walton's  Life  of  Hooker.  Literature  of  The  Age  of 
Elizabeth  (Whipple).  Literature  of  The  Age  of  Eliz- 
abeth (Hazlitt).     Amenities  of  Literature  (Disraeli). 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  JOHN  MILTON. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  in  London,  Dec.  9,  1608.  In  St.  Paul's 
School,  London,  1620.  Entered  Christ's  College, 
Cambridge,  Feb.  12,  1625.  Received  degree  of  B.  A., 
1629;  M.  A.,  1632.  Left  Cambridge  for  Horton  in 
1632— (authorship).  Received  M.  A.  (Oxford)  in. 
1635.  Remained  at  Horton  till  1637.  Went  to  the 
Continent  in  1637.  Returned  for  political  reasons 
in  1639 — (authorship).  Was  Latin  Secretary  of 
State  in  1649-60.  Became  blind  in  1652.  Retired 
from  Public  Life  in  1660 — (authorship).  Died  Nov. 
8,  1674. 

Milton  as  a  Prose  Writer. 

To  most  English  readers  Milton  is  known  as  a  poet 
only — as  the  author  of  Comus  and  of  Paradise  Lost 
and,  yet,  the  remark  of  Dr.  Smith  is  true  "  that  those 
who  are  unacquainted  with  his  prose  works  are  in- 
capable of  forming  an  idea  of  his  entire  personality." 
Milton  is  never  more  himself  than  in  some  of  these 
fervid  prose  utterances.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten 
that  the  prime  of  his  life  was  almost  exclusively  spent 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MILTON.        247 

in  the  production  of  Prose.     According  to  accepted 
criticism,  his  style  falls  into  the  three  periods — 

1.  From  his  birth  (1608)  to  his  return  from  Euro- 
pean travel  in  1640. 

2.  From  1640  to  the  Restoration— 1660. 

3.  From  1660  to  his  death,  in  1674. 

The  first  of  these  periods  was  devoted  to  the  com- 
position of  his  shorter  poems  such  as  Comus  and 
L'Allegro.  The  last  period  was  occupied  with  his 
two  great  epics  and  Samson  Agonistes.  The  middle 
period,  which  includes  his  life  from  thirty-two  to 
fifty-two,  or  the  best  of  his  manhood,  was  wholly  de- 
voted to  prose  and  even  then,  as  it  appears,  he  ceased 
from  writing  in  this  form  on  account  of  the  political 
results  of  the  Restoration  rather  than  by  way  of  pre- 
ference. "  I  imagined,"  he  says,  "  that  I  was  about  to 
enjoy  an  interval  ot  uninterrupted  ease  and  turned  my 
thoughts  to  a  continued  history  of  m}'  country,  from 
the  earliest  times  to  the  present."  Apart  therefore, 
from  the  specific  character  of  the  prose,  the  strong 
presumptive  argument  would  be  that  we  are  to  look 
for  special  excellence  in  that  literary  work  which  ab- 
sorbed his  best  energies  and  best  days  midway  be- 
tween the  experiments  of  youth  and  the  infirmities 
of  age.  This  argument  is  doubly  confirmed  when  it 
is  recalled  that  during  this  period  Milton  was  in  pros- 
perity and  free  to  use  his  pen  as  it  pleased  him  whilo 
the  return  of  Charles  II.,  in  1660,  opened  his  career 
of  physical  suffering,  poverty  and  political  dangers. 
Great  stress  has  always  been  laid  upon  the  quaint  re- 
mark of  the  author  himself  as  to  his  prose— "'In  this 
manner  of  writing,  knowing  myself  inferior  to  myself, 


248  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

led  by  the  genial  power  of  nature  to  another  task,  I 
have  the  use  as  I  may  account  it,  but  of  my  left  hand.*' 
As  we  read  this  we  are  not  to  forget  the  other  declar- 
ation of  the  author  modestly  made  and  yet  true,  that 
all    he    wrote — "whether    prosing   or   versing"  had 
"certain   signs  of  life    in  it,"     Moreover,  taking    the 
language  as  it  reads,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the 
"  left  hand"  of  a  Milton  is  more  skillful  and  mighty 
than  the  right  hand  of  most  others.     Milton's  best 
work  was  in  poetry.      He  did,  however,  a  good  work 
on  other  lines.     His  prose  is,  indeed,  local  in  its-  occa- 
sion and  reference.     It   is,  also,  controversial    in    its 
tone  and  aim.     Still,  there  are  "  certain  signs  of  life 
in  it"  and  these  must  be    detected  and  interpreted. 
Despite  manifest  and   flagrant  errors,  Milton's  Prose 
has  a  representative  character.     Though  not  an  ideal 
or  model  prose,  it  is  characteristic  and  deserves  more 
careful    study    that    is    generally   accorded    it.      "It 
is  to  be  regretted, "  says  Macaulay   "  that  the  prose 
writings  of   Milton,  should  in    our  time  be   so  little 
read.     As  compositions  they  deserve  the  attention  of 
every  man  who  wishes  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
full  power  of  the  English  Language.     They  abound 
in  passages,  compared  with  which,  the  finest  deelanv- 
ations  of  Burke  sink  into    insignificance."  So  Patti- 
son,  his  latest  biographer,  writes  of  his  prose  works: 
"  They  are  monuments  of  our  language  so  remarkable 
that  they  must  always  be  resorted  to  by  students,  as 
long  as  English  remains   a  medium    of  ideas.''     He 
justly  adds  "  Yet  on  the  score  of  style,   his  prose  is 
subject  to  serious   deductions."     It  is   gratifying   to 
note  that  an  edition  of  Milton's  Prose  Works,  by  Mr. 
Myers,  is  among  recent  publications. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MILTON.        249 


His  Prose  Works  in  English. 

His  Prose  as  that  of  Bacon,  was  partly  in  Latin 
and  partly  in  English;  the  English  prevailing,  how- 
evei',  as  the  Latin  did  with  Bacon.  These  works 
may  be  said  to  consist  of — The  History  of  England 
up  to  the  Norman  Invasion  and  of  Pamphlets  on 
various  topics.  As  to  the  History,  it  was  his  purpose 
to  carry  it  down  to  his  own  time,  but  personal  and 
political  events  obliged  him  to  close  it  at  the  Norman 
Period.  As  far  as  it  goes,  however,  it  is  valuable  in 
giving  us  an  example  of  Milton  in  the  narrative  style 
as,  also,  in  revealing  a  special  interest  on  the  author's 
part  in  the  early  history  of  England.  Opening  with 
an  account  of  the  oldest  British  history,  it  closes  with 
a  brief  account  of  Harold,  the  last  of  the  Saxon 
Kings,  while  from  first  to  last  no  occasion  is  lost  to 
protest  against  the  abuses  of  Romanism  in  Saxon 
England. 

The  Pamphlets,  about  twenty-five  in  number,  are 
on  various  subjects — politics  and  church  government, 
education  and  divorce,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  are 
written  in  English.  The  series  opens  with — Reforma- 
tion touching  Church  Discipline  in  England — and 
closes  with — A  Ready  and  Easy  Way  to  establish  a 
free  Commonwealth.  Of  the  series,  nine  are  ecclesias- 
tical; eight  are  political;  four  are  on  the  question  of 
divorce;  two  are  in  defense  of  himself;  one  is  on 
education  and  one,  on  freedom  of  speech.  With  the 
exception  of  the  tract,  on  Education,  the  one  object 
of  all  is  to  protest  against  the  exercise  of  tyranny  in 
church  and  state  and  social  relations  and  to  plead  for 


250  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

the  exercise  of  that   freedom  which  is  the  right  of 
every  man. 

The  titles  of  the  most  important  are  as  follows: 

Reformation  touching  Church  Discipline  in  England. 
PreJatical  Episcopacy;  An  Apology  for  Smectymnuus. 
Reason  of  Church  Government  urged  against  Prelaty. 
The  Divorce  Controversy — four  parts.  Considerations 
touching  the  Means  of  removing  Hirelings  out  of  the 
Church.  Animadversions  on  The  Remonstrant.  The 
Tenure  of  Kings  and  Magistrates.  Iconoclastes.  Ready 
and  Easy  Way  to  Establish  a  Free  Commonwealth. 
Areopagitica.  History  of  England  (Britain).  Tract 
on  Education. 

There  are  three  or  four  of  these  which  Maeaulay 
seems  to  prefer  as  he  writes  at  the  close  of  his  cele- 
brated essay  on  Milton — "  We  had  intended  to  dwell 
at  some  length  on  the  sublime  wisdom  of  the  Areo- 
pagitica and  the  nervous  rhetoric  of  the  Iconoclast; 
to  point  out  some  of  those  magnificent  passages 
which  occur  in  the  Treatise  of  Reformation  and  The 
Animadversions  on  the  Remonstrant." 

It  is  not  necessary,  in  the  discussion  before  us,  to 
emphasize  any  one  of  these  treatises  save  to  say  that 
by  general  consent  the  Areopagitica, — A  Plea  for  the 
liberty  of  unlicensed  printing — is  accorded  the  first 
place  among  his  English  works. 

His  Latin  Treatise  on — Christian  Doctrine,  pub- 
lished in  1824,  and  giving  origin  to  Maeaulay 's  Essay 
on  Milton,  is  by  far  the  most  valuable  prose  produc- 
tion of  the  author. 

Confining  ourselves  to  his  English  authorship,  we 
shall  notice  first  of  all, — The  Chief  Defects  of  his  style. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MILTON.        251 


CHIEF  DEFECTS  OF  HIS  STYLE. 

(1.)  Anglo-Latin  Diction  and  Construction. 

This  frequent  use  of  Latin  terms  and  forms  is  to 
some  extent,  pardonable  in  a  mind  trained  precisely 
as  was  that  of  Milton.  He  had  been  educated  from 
a  boy  in  the  daily  drill  of  that  Latin  verse-making  so 
common  in  all  the  preparatory  English  Schools  of  his 
time.  Before  entering  the  university  and  while  in  it, 
Latin  composition  was  an  essential  part  of  his  duty. 
The  proficiency  which  he  reached  is  well  known  in 
literary  history.  In  such  an  example  as  he  gives  us 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  under  the  title  of  a  "  Vacation 
Exercise"  written  in  Latin  and  English,  we  see  this 
early  habit.  Later,  in  the  troublous  times  of  Crom- 
well, he  is  chosen  to  the  office  of  Latin  Secretary. 
Accepting  the  appointment,  his  Cambridge  drill  is 
utilized  and  perfected  by  state  correspondence.  In 
the  very  year  preceding  his  death,  his  Latin  verses 
are  republished  in  connection  with  his  English 
poems.  Some  of  his  works,  as  stated,  were  written 
in  Latin  instead  of  English  and  left  by  the  author  in 
their  ancient  form.  ■ 

It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  we  find  this  foreign 
element  in  all  his  prose.  With  Bacon,  the  use  of 
the  Latin  arose  partly  from  the  nature  of  his  subject 
and  partly  from  his  view  as  to  the  inferiority  of  the 
English.  With  Milton,  the  use  of  it  was  rather  a 
.second  nature,  the  result  of  carefully  formed  literary 
habit.  Hence,  to  a  careful  reader  of  the  prose  of  Mil- 
ton it  will  appear  that  the  Latinism  of  his  language 
extends  beneath  the  language  itself.     When  we  read 


252  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

such  phrases  as — Tnquisitorient  Bishops;  Tempori- 
zing and  Extemporizing  Licensers;  Exquisitest  Books 
— it  is  evident  that  the  Latinizing  is  not  merely  ver- 
bal. The  same  element  is  found  in  sentence  and 
paragraph  and  even  in  the  thought  beneath  them, 
so  that  the  compromise  effected  between  the  native 
and  the  foreign  makes  it  difficult  to  state  which  has 
the  precedence.  Were  Milton,  in  his  diction,  more 
like  Bunyan  and  less  like  Browne  and  Burton,  the 
inherent  worth  of  his  prose  would  at  once  give  it 
power  and  currency.  Instead  of  this  we  note  harsh 
inversions  and  cumbrous  constructions.  Our  atten- 
tion is  called,  at  every  point,  rather  to  the  earlier  and 
cruder  forms  of  English  than  to  its  more  modern 
improvements.  It  is  thus  that  Pattison  properly 
speaks  of  "  the  absence  of  construction  "  by  which  he 
means — of  clear  construction.  He  adds,  "  Milton 
does  not  seem  to  have  any  notion  of  what  a  period 
means.  He  leaves  off,  not  when  the  sense  closes  but 
when  he  is  out  of  breath."  There  is  truth  in  this. 
Not  a  few  of  those  passages  so  often  quoted  by 
critics  as  examples  of  clear  and  elegant  English,  are 
hopelessly  involved  and  must  be  annotated  and  ex- 
pl*ained  in  order  to  be  readable.  Milton  would  have 
presented  a  clear  diction  and  structure  had  he  known 
"small  Latin"  and  given  full  expression  to  his  En- 
glish speech.  It  must  be  added  here  that  the  tech- 
nical and  polemic  topics  discussed  by  the  author  did 
much  to  encourage  this  free  use  of  Latin  idiom  and 
structure.     In  fact,  it  largely  made  it  necessary. 

The  author  seemed  to  be  aware  of  what  the  English 
language  could  do  and  ought  to  do  and  is  found 
giving  special  attention  to  its  early  forms  and  varied 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MILTON.        253 

uses.  Archbishop  Trench,  in  his  philological  manuals, 
is  careful  to  call  frequent  attention  to  the  fact  that 
Milton  was  one  of  a  few  who  looked  into  language 
etymologioally  rather  than  superficially.  "  He  is  the 
first  English  writer,"  says  one,  "  who  possessing  in 
the  ancient  models  a  standard  of  the  effect  which 
could  be  produced  by  choice  of  words,  set  himself  to 
the  conscious  study  of  our  native  tongue  with  a  firm 
faith  in  its  undeveloped  powers."  While  this  remark 
applies  more  particularly  to  his  poetry,  it  has  an  illus- 
tration as  well  in  his  prose.  His  diction,  after  all,  is 
better  than  his  construction.  He  never  seems  to 
have  at  command  in  his  prose,  that  easy,  facile  and 
natural  style  that  is  so  conspicuous  in  his  shorter 
poems.  He  is  here  at  a  disadvantage  and  the  com- 
position is  labored.  In  this  respect,  Hooker  and 
Bacon  are  vastly  his  superiors.  Milton's  style,  there- 
fore, is  on  these  grounds  inferior  in  clearness  and  fin- 
ish. There  are  too  many  "colossal  involutions;  "  too 
many  repetitions  and  classical  phrases  to  make  it  a 
model  for  the  student. 

(2.)  Faulty  Imagery. 

It  is  excessive,  crude  and  somewhat  overwrought. 
The  too  frequent  use  of  figure  and  principal  terms 
seems  to  have  the  same  effect  on  the  style  that  exces- 
sive emphasis  has  in  elocution.  The  very  end  aimed 
at  is  defeated.  The  effect  of  this  on  the  reader  is  in 
the  line  of  mental  weariness.  The  uniformity  is  op- 
pressive. Scarcely  has  the  attention  been  called  to 
an  image  or  a  series  of  images,  than  it  is  turned  to 
consider  another.     In  the  multiplicity  of  the  illustra- 


V 


25i  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

tions,  we  are  often  at  a  loss  to  discern  the  truth  to  be 
illustrated.  Even  the  monotony  of  excellence  is 
wearisome.  The  principle  of  contrast  must  enter. 
This  is  especially  true  as  to  figure,  in  that  it  is  a  use 
of  language  aside  from  the  common  use.  If  the  un- 
common is  made  common,  all  distinctions  are  effaced 
and  the  style  is  as  flat  as  a  Western  prairie.  The 
faults  here  alluded  to  would  be  of  a  far  less  serious 
character  were  the  imagery  itself  of  a  poorer  type. 
That  sublime  and  well  governed  imagination  which 
safely  carries  him  in  his  Paradise  Lost  through  all 
heights  and  depths  and  which  carries  the  reader 
with  him  seems  to  be  absent  here.  In  fine,  he  is,  in 
his  prose,  working  in  a  sphere  in  which  there  is  but 
little  demand  for  the  highest  type  of  the  construc- 
tive imagination.  The  author,  however,  insists  upon 
calling  it  into  play  at  every  point.  Here  is  the  ex- 
planation of  the  failure.  The  times  were  too  stirring 
and  the  questions  too  practical  to  admit  of  any  fan- 
ciful soarings  and  displays  of  art.  There  was  very 
little  of  the  poetic  in  the  Great  Rebellion  of  1(540, 
or  in  the  Commonwealth  reaction,  and  nothing  but 
solid  prose* of  the  most  substantial  order  would  meet 
the  case.  Milton  saw  this  and  yet  with  his  poetical 
nature  yielded  too  much  to  poetic  instinct.  The  re- 
sult is  that  the  imagery  is  foisted  upon  the  style  rather 
than  being  its  natural  dress.  The  art  is  too  evident. 
Such  expressions  as,  :'new  vaulted  paganism,  "  "  the 
fangs  and  gripes  of  a  boiling  and  queasy  conscience  " 
are  as  much  violations  of  true  imagery  as  of  chaste 
diction.  They  are  an  awkward  attempt  to  -intro- 
duce the  metaphorical  when  it  is  not  demanded. 
The  sum  of  the  matter  is  well  expressed   by  Taine 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MILTON.        255 

as  he  writes — "  Imagination  carried  him  away  and 
enchained  him  in  metaphor."  Mr.  Pattison,  in  his 
recent  biography,  exalts  far  too  highly,  as  we  think, 
this  imaginative  feature  in  Milton's  prose  style.  If 
we  interpret  it  aright,  it  is  void  of  special  literary 
excellence. 

(3.)  Personal  Allusions  and  Invective. 

It  is  quite  easy  for  us,  with  the  character  of  Milton 
and  his  times  before  us,  to  discover  some  of  the 
reasons  which  allured  him  to  indulge  in  such  invec- 
tive. His  feeling  toward  many  of  the  existing  evils 
in  church  and  state  was  that  of  a  fiery  indignation. 
His  soul  was  vexed  by  the  prevailing  order  of  things. 
Failing  to  draw  a  sharp  dividing  line  between  the 
sin  and  the  sinner,  he  poured  out  his  wrath  against 
men  and  classes  with  more  than  Davidic  force.  He 
exhausts  the  language  of  abuse  and  often  descends 
to  the  level  of  the  partisan  and  public  scold.  Scarcely 
a  page  of  his  controversial  prose  is  free  from  this 
while,  at  times,  entire  treatises  are  devoted  to  it. 
Such  are — The  Animadversions  and  The  Answer  to 
Salmasius.  He  speaks  of  bishops  as  "ill  bred  sons" 
"ravens  that  will  pick  out  the  eyes  of  Christians." 
He  alludes  to  the  "  saucy  tongues  of  the  silly  Holland 
scholar"  and  so  on.  He  indulges  in  imprecations  as  ] 
David  did  without  David's  reason  for  it.  All  this 
gives  tri  his  prose  a  rough,  ragged  and  violent  char- 
acter which  is  anything  but  literary  and  makes  it 
impossible  for  it  to  lie  quoted  as  in  any  sense  a 
model  of  artistic  grace  and  neatness.  It  is  military 
and  menacing  in  its  tone  and  stirs  up  the  baser  pas- 


256  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

sions  of  the  reader.  As  we  read  it  we  are  more  in- 
clined than  ever  to  endorse  the  author's  "left-handed" 
theory  and  allow  him,  in  the  sphere  of  poetry,  to  in- 
dulge his  strongest  feelings  with  Samson  the  giant, 
and  with  Satan.  The  only  bright  side  to  all  this  is, 
the  revelation  that  it  gives  us  of  the  author's  passion- 
ate hatred  of  what  he  felt  to  be  wrong.  What  he 
despised  he  despised  with  Saxon  intensity. 

The  discussion  of  Milton's  prose,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
commendable,  is  now  in  place. 

LITERARY  MERITS  OF  STYLE. 

Prose  passages  of  rarest  excellence  are  found. 
Such  are  seen  in  his  "Reason  of  Church  Govern- 
ment" when  he  "invokes  that  Eternal  Spirit  who 
can  enrich  with  all  utterance  and  knowledge";  when 
in  his — Reformation  in  England — he  appeals  "to  the 
Triune  God  to  aid  him  in  his  work  against  the 
enemies  of  the  church."  So  especially  in  the  Areo- 
pagitica.     As  to  special  features,  we  notice. 

(1.)  Ingenuousness  or  Sincerity  of  Style. 

He  was,  in  this  respect,  the  Luther  of  his  day.  He 
was  in  literature  what  Cromwell  was  in  the  state. 
What  he  thought  he  uttered  with  all  his  heart.  This 
lends  a  moral  clearness  to  his  style  which  is  of  great 
value  and  serves  to  make  it  rhetorically  clear  where 
it  otherwise  would  not  be. 

There  is  no  greater  need  in  prose  style  than  this 
qualitv  of  naturalness— the  frank  expression  of  the 
writer's  personality  in   his  own   way.     So  potent  a 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.—MILTON.       257 

factor  is  this  in  the  sum  total  of  qualities  that  it 
serves  to  make  the  previous  literary  errors  somewhat 
negative  in  their  effect.  It  involves  much  more  than 
at  first  sight  appears,  such  as,  the  writer's  individu- 
ality as  a  man  and  an  author,  courage  in  the  formation 
and  maintenance  of  his  own  convictions;  freedom 
from  everything  in  the  line  of  the  mechanical  and 
servile  and  a  general  prevalence  of  what  is  healthful 
and  attractive.  No  man  has  stronger  temptations 
than  the  writer  to  act  as  a  mouthpiece  or  scribe 
for  others  in  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  independence 
and  with  no  one  is  ingenuousness  more  of  a  virtue. 
Just  to  the  degree  in  which  literature  is  time  serv- 
ing and  evasive  it  is  worthless  either  in  a  .practical 
or  artistic  point  of  view.  Milton  has  serious  faults  as  1 
a  prose  writer  but  he  had  the  great  excellence  of  Puri- 
tan outspokenness.  If  the  writer  follows  the  high 
counsel — "To  thine  own  self  be  true,"  in  whatever 
else  he  fails  he  will  not  fail  in  securing  the  attention 
and  respect  of  his  readers.  Naturalness  is  concilia- 
tory in  its  effect. 

(2.)  Directness  of  Purpose. 

Definiteness  of  idea  and  object  is  one  of  the  prime 
principles  of  writing.  Everything  in  the  writer's 
plan  must  have  a  purpose  in  it  and  a  controlling  pur- 
pose. In  the  etymological  sense  of  the  word,  there 
must  be  nothing  impertinent.  The  language,  gene- 
ral method  and  style  must  be  relevant  to  the  one  design. 
Few  authors  of  English  Prose  have  had  a  clearer  aim 
in  their  authorship  than  Milton.  Mis  pamphlets  on 
questions  of  state  were  so    closely    confined  to  that 


258  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

topic  that  they  could  well  be  classified  in  the  state 
archives  oi'  England  under  the  head  of  civil  docu- 
ments. His  treatises  on  ecclesiasticisra  would  find 
iitting  place  in  a  theological  library  as  those  on  the 
divorce  question  would  in  a  library  of  social  science. 
Whatever  the  topic,  he  never  yielded  the  grasp  he 
had  taken  of  it  until  he  had  done  with  it.  It  is  this 
very  directness  of  purpose  and  procedure  that  made 
his  tracts  at  the  time  so  telling  and  awakened  such 
bitter  opposition.  It  was  not  simply  because  he  op- 
posed despotism  in  politics  and  religion,  but  because 
he  offered  it  as  he  did  in  a  kind  of  challenging  man- 
ner, just  as  John  Knox  had  done  in  Scotland  and 
Cromwell  did  in  Milton's  time.  In  fact,  in  this  middle 
period  of  Milton's  life — the  prose  period — his  style  par- 
took of  the  character  of  the  time.  It  was  aggressive 
and  martial.  He  aimed  his  words  as  the  Ironsides  did 
their  muskets — right  at  the  mark,  and  when  he  sti'uck 
the  target,  the  result  was  visible. 

Here  again,  prose  style  may  learn  a  lesson  from 
Milton,  to  the  effect  that  pertinence  is  a  literary  virtue, 
that  nothing  is  gained  by  indirectness.  Circumlocu- 
tion is  a  figure  of  speech  and,  as  such,  is  exceptional. 
In  the  writer  as  in  the  orator  direct  address  to  the  au- 
dience is  all  important.  This  argues  clear  thinking,  a 
clear  knowledge  of  the  subject  and  a  conception  of  the 
writer's  office  as  a  something  more  than  a  literary  pas- 
time. This  business-like  element  is. not  incompatible 
with  high  literary  art  and  is  a  healthful  protest 
against  that  aimless  writing  which  is  so  common 
among  us. 

These  two  qualities  lead  to  the  third  and  crowning 
feature  of  Milton's  style. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MILTON.        259 

(3.)  Impassioned  Energy. 

Next  to  clearness  this  is  the  most  important  feature 
of  prose  style  and,  as  far  as  Milton  is  concerned, 
ranks  as  the  first.  No  one  can  read  a  page  of 
his  best  prose  apart  from  the  narrative  portions,  and 
not  be  profoundly  impressed.  As  one  rises  from  the 
reading  of  such  a  forensic  treatise  as — The  Areopa- 
gitica,  he  feels  as  Cromwell  felt  who  after  its  perusal 
proceeded  at  once  to  establish  in  the  realm  by  official 
statute  that  liberty  of  speech  for  which  it  argued. 

"  When  God  commands  to  take  the  trumpet,"  he 
says,  "and  blow  a  blast,  it  lies  not  in  man's  will  what 
he  shall  say."  This  has  a  soldierly  sound  in  it  and 
speaks  of  the  masculine  cogency  for  which  he  was 
noted.  "Though  all  the  winds  of  doctrine  were  let 
loose  to  play,  upon  the  earth,  so  truth  be  in  the  field,  we 
do  unjustly  to  doubt  her  strength.  Who  ever  knew 
truth  put  to  the  worse  in  a  free  and  open  encounter!" 
The  vigor  of  this  impassioned  utterance  reminds  us 
of  Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms.  It  is  the  old  Teu- 
tonic spirit.  So  in  his  trenchant  discussion  of  the 
divorce  question,  after  remarking  that  St.  Paul  did 
not  allow  the  right  of  the  woman  to  usurp  authority 
over  the  man,  he  indignantly  asks — "  If  the  apostle 
could  not  suffer  it,  into  what  mold  is  he  mortified  who 
can?"  Such  are  some  of  those  cogent  passages  to 
which  Macaulay  must  refer  when  he  says,  "Not  even 
in  the  earlier  books  of  the  Paradise  Lost  has  the 
great  poet  ever  risen  higher  than  in  those  parts  of 
his  controversial  works  in  which  his  feelings,  excited" 
by  conflict,  find  a  vent."  There  was  everything  in 
the  nature  of  the  author  and  in  the  peculiar  cast  of 


260  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

the  age  to  lead  to  this  fiery  utterance.  A  puritan  iu 
his  religious  tendencies  and  a  republican  in  his  poli- 
tics, he  was  obliged  to  see,  on  the  one  hand,  the  tyran- 
nical authority  of  the  prelatical  church  and,  on  the 
other,  the  despotic  rule  of  the  state.  His  liberal  and 
catholic  nature  was  profoundly  stirred  by  all  this  and 
he  protested  against  it  by  voice  and  pen.  He  saw  at 
once  what  his  relation  to  the  age  was.  -  It  was  one  of 
antagonism  and  he  boldly  met  it.  It  was  no  time  for 
poetry  but  it  was  a  time  for  prose  and  above  all  for  a 
fervid  and  effective  prose.  No  later  writer  of  English 
has  surpassed  him  at  this  point.  He  used  "  words 
that  burn."  They  are  often  at  a  white  heat.  Hence 
his  language  is  full  of  sharp  rejoinder,  of  fiery  invec- 
tive, of  the  boldest  forms  of  figure,  of  challenge,  pro- 
test and  accusation,  so  that  even  at  this  late  date 
when  the  issues  at  stake  have  quite  disappeared,  the 
reader  is  aroused  by  them  and  must  take  sides  in  the 
questions  discussed.  Already  had  the  author  defined 
poetry  to  be  "  sensuous  and  passionate  "  but  he  rises 
here  to  a  different  order  of  emotion,  and  expresses 
his  deepest  self.  In  all  this  Milton  was  himself. 
His  forcible  writing  is  but  the  manifestation  of  his 
vigorous  spirit.  It  would  have  been  just  us  impossi- 
ble for  Milton  to  have  written  one  of  the  condensed 
didactic  essays  of  Bacon  as  for  Bacon  to  have  penned 
one  of  those  passionate  appeals.  In  this  respect  he 
was  more  nearly  anticipated  by  Hooker  although 
devoid  of  that  philosophic  dignity  by  which  the 
earlier  writer  was  marked.  It  is  just  here  most  of 
all  that  Milton's  Prose  style  may  be  said  to  be  truly 
representative,  and  commendable.  It  is  so  in  its  im- 
passioned force  and  may  be  consulted  by  the  student 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — MILTON,        261 

as  an  example  of  the  vigorous  element  in  style.  He  is 
here  superior  to  any  of  his  predecessors  and  finds  in 
Edmund  Burke,  Chatham,  Grattan,  and  the  modern 
British  orators  those  who  most  fitly  reproduce  him. 
It  is  the  true  oratorical  style  of  prose.  These  pam- 
phlets are  orations  rather  than  treatises  or  disserta- 
tions. They  would  have  sounded  better  than  they 
read. 

Here  again  we  come  in  contact  with  a  quality  of 
prose  as  excellent  as  it  is  rare.  In  common  with 
naturalness  and  directness  of  purpose,  it  is  seldom 
seen,  so  that  the  charge  of  dullness  or  want  of  spirit 
made  against  so  much  of  English  Prose  is  justly 
founded.  The  extreme  prevalence  of  the  newspaper 
and  the  novel  is  a  partial  protest  against  this  so 
called,  didactic  prose.  It  is  prosaic.  The  infusion 
of  this  impassioned  element  into  ordinary  discourse 
would  be  of  vital  value.  It  should  not  be  con- 
fined to  the  oration  or  to  fiction  but  have  con- 
sistent place  in  all  forms.  Genuine  feeling  is  potent 
wherever  expressed  and  has  place  in  prose  as  well  aa 
poetry. 

Milton  was  strongest  here  and  often  passed  the 
line  of  moderation  into  the  denunciatory  and  severe, 
but  it  was  a  pardonable  fault.  A  tame,  insipid, 
soulless  style  is  no  style  at  all.  It  is  a  far  more  dan- 
gerous extreme  than  that  of  animation. 

A  lew  extracts  from  the  Areopagitica  will  evince 

this  vigorous  earnestness — 

"Truth  and  understanding  arc  not  such  wares  as  to  be  monopo- 
lized and  traded  in  by  statutes  ami  standards.  "What  is  it  but  a 
servitude  like  that  imposed  by  the  Philistines  not  to  be  allowed  the 
sharpening  of  our  own  axes  but  we  must  repair  from  all  quarters 
to  twenty  licensing  forges  !    I  could  recount  what  I  have  seen  and 


262  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

heard  in  other  countries  where  this  kind  of  inquisition  tyrannizes. 
It  was  in  Italy  that  I  found  and  visited  the  famous  Galileo  a  pris- 
oner to  the  Inquisition  for  thinking  on  astronomy  otherwise  than 
Franciscan  and  Dominican  licensers  thought." 

"Give  me  the  liberty  to  know,  to  utter  and  to  argue  freely  accord- 
ing to  conscience  above  all  liberties." 

"There  be  those  who  perpetually  complain  of  schisms  and  sects 
and  make  it  such  a  calamity  that  any  man  dissents  from  their  max- 
ims. They  are  the  dividers  of  unity  who  permit  not  others  to  unite 
those  dissevered  pieces  which  are  yet  wanting  to  the  body  of 
truth." 

"To  be  still  searching  what  we  know  not  by  what  we  know,  still 
closing  up  truth  to  truth  as  we  find  it,  this  is  the  golden  rule  in 
theology  and  makes  up  the  best  harmony  in  a  church." 

In  noting  therefore,  the  place  of  Milton  in  English 
Prose,  it  may  be  stated  that  his  faults  and  his  merits 
are  alike  prominent.  In  studying  the  faults,  we  are 
inclined,  at  first,  to  set  him  aside  altogether  as  a 
standard.  In  the  survey  of  the  merits,  our  views 
change  and  we  accord  him  a  leading  place.  There 
is,  beyond  doubt,  much  room  for  diversity  of  opinion 
here.  In  diction  and  sentence,  imagery  and  finish  of 
style,  he  is  inferior.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  in  the 
main,  clear.  He  is  always  natural,  direct  and  forci- 
ble so  that  when  the  balance  is  struck,  it  is  found  to 
be  largely  in  favor  of  the  author. 

It  is  because  his  prose  exhibits  in  prominent  form 
some  of  the  indispensable  qualities  of  style  that  we 
accord  him  a  place  of  prominence. 

Sir  Egerton  Brydges  has  well  expressed  it  in  the 
striking  passage. 

"  He  was  in  his  style 
Naked  and  stern  and  to  effeminate  ears 
Perchance  even  harsh :  but  who  will  dare  dispute 
His  strength  and  grandeur?" 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MILTON.        203 

The  fact  is,  these  early  styles — those  of  Bacon, 
Hooker  and  Milton  while  thev  will  not  bear  the 
closest  critical  scrutiny,  cannot  be  spared  from 
the  language.  With  all  their  faults,  they  are  typi- 
cal. They  are  so  full  of  thought,  character,  dig- 
nity, personality  and  power,  that  they  must  be  as-  , 
signed  a  large  place  in  the  area  of  English  Prose, 
nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  even  where  these  able 
men  were  weak,  they  might  have  been  strong  had 
they  lived  two  or  three  centuries  later.  In  their 
place  and  time  they  were  representative  as  Addison 
and  Macaulay  were  in  theirs. 

It  is  a  most  fortunate  circumstance  in  the  history 
of  our  prose  that  its  first  exponents  were  men  of  such 
mental  calibre  and  that  its  first  productions  were 
marked  by  such  depth  and  power.  The  foundations 
of  our  prose  were  thus  laid  so  deep  and  broad  as  to 
defy  every  assault  in  the  line  of  the  superficial  and 
false.  Whatever  occasional  departures  may  be  no- 
ticed along  the  line  of  English  Prose  from  this  origi- 
nal vigor,  they  will  be  found  to  be  transient  and 
indications  will  be  noted  of  a  speedy  return  to  the 
primitive  order  of  things.  It  is  not  in  the  Arcadia 
of  Sydney;  in  Burton's  Anatomy  or  in  the  Euphues 
of  Lyly,  but  in  Hooker's  Polity  Bacon's  Essays  and 
Milton's  Pamphlets  that  we  find  the  basis  of  our  best 
modern  prose.  We  shall  discuss  more  recent  and 
more  excellent  prose  writers  but  none  more  char- 
acteristic than  these  earlier  names.  Modern  prose 
begins  as  far  back  as  the  days  of  Elizabeth.  Be- 
fore it  could  become  settled,  it  was  formative  and 
transitional. 


264  ENGLISH  PROSE. 


References  and  Authoritise. 


Pattison's  Milton,  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.)  Masson's 
Life  of  Milton.  Myers  ^elected  Prose  Works  of  Mil- 
ton. Milton's  Prose  Works,  (Griswold).  Lowell's — 
Among  My  Books.  Macaulay's — Essay  On  Milton. 
Character  and  Writings,  (Channing).  Essays  of  Ad- 
dison, Bay ne  and  De  Quincey.  Emerson's  Character- 
istics.    Taine's  English  Literature. 


\ 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  JONATHAN  SWIFT, 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  ]Nov.  30th,  1667,  in  Dublin.  Educated  at  Trinity- 
College,  Dublin,  1682.  Thence  to  England,  1689. 
Secretary  to  Sir  Win.  Temple.  Went  to  Ireland  as 
Prebendary  of  Kilroot,  1694.  Took  Church  Orders. 
Returned  to  Temple,  1696.  In  the  Vicarage  of 
Laracor.  Ireland,  1699.  Dean  of  St.  Patricks,  Dublin, 
1713.     Visited  England,  1726.     Died  Oct.  19th,  1745. 

English  critics,  with  but  few  exceptions,  consent  to 
give  to  Jonathan  Swift  a  prominent  place  among  our 
standard  prose  writers.  Whatever  views  may  have 
been  entertained  by  different  biographers  and  readers 
relative  to  his  moral  character  or  the  occasion  of  his 
eccentricities,  there  has  been  but  little  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  his  authorship.  Historians  speak  of  him 
as  the  erratic  but  brilliant  Dean.  Others  declare 
that  whoever  relies  upon  his  authority  in  the  use  of 
language  may  regard  himself  safe,  while  not  a  few 
go  so  far  as  to  place  him  at  the  very  front  of  the  liter- 
ary talent  of  his  time. 

His  Prose  Writings. 

Swift  was  emphatically  a  writer  of  prose.  It  is 
true  that  he  indulged  at  times  in  the  composition  of 


266  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

verse  as  in  his  Poems  to  Stella,  his  Legion  Club  and 
The  Pindaric  Odes,  but  this  was  his  strange  work. 
The  remark  made  to  him  by  Dryden  in  reference  to 
the  Odes,  "  Cousin  Swift,  you  will  never  be  a  poet," 
would  apply  equally  well  to  all  his  poetic  productions. 
.  He  was  even  more  distinctively  a  prose  author  than 
Addison  himself  and  his  fame  must  rest  solely  upon 
what  he  did  in  this  department. 

First  in  order  and  rated  by  many  critics  as  the 
ablest  of  his  productions  is,  The  Tale  of  a  Tub.  This 
was  probably  written  as  early  as  1692,  but  not  pub- 
lished till  1704.  In  this  pamphlet  the  author  uses 
allegory  as  the  medium  of  expression  and  places 
before  his  readers  the  three  prominent  ecclesiastical 
orders  of  his  day,  Anglican,  Presbyterian  and  Papal. 
Under  the  image  of  three  sons  of  a  deceased  father 
tampering  with  the  will  which  had  been  left  them, 
he  takes  occasion  to  hold  up  to  ridicule  these  conflict- 
ing sects.  At  one  time,  he  lashes  with  unsparing 
vigor  the  extreme  procedures  of  the  Papal  church. 
In  a  milder  but  an  equally  effective  vein,  he  holds  up 
to  derision  the  heresies  of  the  English  Dissenters, 
taking  occasion  when  decisions  must  be  made,  to 
make  them  in  accordance  with  the  acknowledged 
claims  of  the  Established  Church.  Equally  sarcastic 
are  what  he  calls,  The  Digressions  from  The  Tale. 
In  these,  he  defines  the  true  and  the  false  critic; 
treats  of  instruction  and  diversion;  and  gives  a  di- 
gression in  praise  of  digressions.  In  all  these  dis- 
cussions, his  weapon  is  irony  and  he  wields  it  with 
pronounced  effect.  The  literary  success  of  the  work 
was  unbounded.  As  to  the  general  moral  effect  is 
produced,  relative  to  the  pending  questions  of  ecclesi- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— SWIFT.         2G7 

asticism,  we  find  the  very  church  it  was  designed  to 
favor  regarded  it  as  conducive  to  levity  and  looseness 
in  practical  religion.  This  is  the  fact  despite  the  au- 
thor's assertion — "  If  any  one  opinion  can  fairly  be 
deduced  from  the  book  contrary  to  religion  and 
morality,  I  will  forfeit  my  life." 

In  the  same  year  (1704)  appeared — The  Battle  of 
the  Boohs.  This  was  based  upon  a  narrow  contro- 
versy between  Boyle  and  Bentley  as  to  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  epistles  of  Phalaris,  based  also,  on  the  far 
wider  question  as  to  the  relative  excellence  of  the 
ancients  and  moderns. 

The  dispute  was  opened  in  favor  of  the  Moderns 
by  the  French  writers — Fontenelle  and  Perrault. 
.Sir  Wm.  Temple,  the  patron  of  Swift,  answered  on 
behalf  of  the  Ancients.  To  this,  in  turn,  reply  was 
made  by  Walton  and  Bentley  on  behalf  of  the  Mod- 
erns. At  this  point  Swift  took  up  the  discussion  in 
his  usual  satirical  vein.  Under  the  image  of  a  battle 
in  the  royal  library  at  St.  James'  between  ancient 
and  modern  books,  he  vindicated  the  old  at  the 
expense  of  the  new,  and  dealt  out  some  merciless 
criticisms  upon  the  authors  of  the  later  school. 

Resting  awhile  from  authorship  when  engaged  in 
the  duties  of  his  parish  and  the  state,  he  appeared  in 
1708,  in  several  successive  papers.  In  his  paper  en- 
titled—  The  Sentiments  of  a  Church  of  England  Man — 
we  have  the  religious  and  political  views  of  one 
who  with  apparent  inconsistency  called  himself — "A 
Whig  wearing  a  gown."  In  the  same  year  appeared 
the  highly  popular — Bickerstaff  Papers — elicited  by 
the  morbid  excess  to  which  the  astrology  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  carrying  the  English  people. 


268  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

The  contemptuous  burning  of  the  treatise  by  the 
Inquisition  at  Portugal  exactly  expressed  the  enraged 
sentiments  of  all  the  almanac  compilers  in  the  British 
realms. 

Now  appeared  also,  his  famous — Argument  against 
Abolishing  Christianity — in  which  irony  is  expressed 
in  essence  and  which  Dr.  Johnson  is  pleased  to  call 
'•  happy  and  judicious."  To  this  there  succeeded  in 
the  following  years — 

A  Vindication  of  Bickerstaff  (1709);  Letter  to  the 
October  Club  (1711) — a  company  of  a  hundred  Tories 
bent  upon  the  reform  of  the  existing  govenment;  A 
Proposal  for  Correcting,  Improving  and  Ascertaining 
(making  sure)  the  English  Tongue  (1712).  The  Con- 
duct of  the  Allies  (1712).  In  this  state  paper  he  took 
occasion  to  protest  against  the  unfair  relation  in 
which  England  stood  in  the  Triple  Alliance  between 
Germany  and  the  Low  Countries  in  the  Spanish  War. 
He  brought  to  light  the  sufferings  of  his  country  at 
the  hands  of  the  mercenary  Marlborough,  and  called 
upon  the  nation  for  its  own  protection,  to  institute 
immediate  peace. 

Swift's  influence  here  is  seen  in  the  feet  that  the 
call  was  heard  and  heeded.  In  the  space  of  two 
months  eleven  thousand  copies  were  sold.  The  cry 
was  for  peace,  and  now  was  open  that  national  move- 
ment, the  approaching  result  of  which  was,  the  depo- 
sition of  the  existing  authorities,  the  elevation  of  the 
Tories  to  political  power  and  the  final  peace  of 
Utrecht  in  1713.  Dr.  Smith  pronounces  it  "  the 
most  successful  pamphlet  ever  printed."  In  close 
relation  to  this,  there  followed — 

The  Public  Spirit  of  the  Whigs,  (1714). 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— SWIFT.  269 

The  Drapier  Letters  (1724).  This  occasion,  as  is 
well  known,  was  the  attempt  made  by  a  Mr.  Wood, 
of  England,  to  secure  a  patent  by  which  he  could 
coin  £180,000,  of  half-pence  and  farthings  for  Ireland, 
so  destitute  then,  of  copper  money.  The  patent  was 
ratified  by  the  king  and  about  to  be  applied. 
Swift  caught  at  once,  the  meaning  of  the  movement 
and  the  animus  of  the  man  behind  it.  He  saw  it  to 
be  a  selfish  and  purely  personal  scheme,  and  began 
to  expose  it.  The  Irish  were  aroused  and  such  a 
storm  of  indignation  as  burst  forth  had  never  been 
seen  in  social  history.  Drapier  was  the  idol  of  the 
hour. 

Gullivers  Travels  appeared  in  1726,  in  four  parts. 

In  Part  I.,  is,  The  Voyage  to  Lilliput,  in  which  is 
satirized  the  government  of  George  I. 

In  Part  II,  is,  The  Voyage  to  Brobdingnag,  and 
special  reference  is  made  to  William  III. 

In  Part  III,  the  learned  world  becomes  the  victim 
of  the  satire,  in  a  Voyage  to  Laputa. 

In  Part  IV,  is  the  Voyage  of  the  Houyhnhnms. 
The  book  is  a  satire  on  the  human  race. 

Other  productions  may  be  cited  as  follows:  Me- 
moirs us  to  the  Queen's  Ministry.  Journal  to  Stella. 
Memoirs  of  Captain  Creichton.  Discourse  as  to 
Nobles  and  Commons.  Paper  on  various  topics — 
Religion,  etc. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  HIS  STYLE.— FAULTS. 

In  order  to  pursue  such  a  discussion  impartially, 
care  must  be  taken  to  connect  the  man  and  the 
author.      1  lis  personal  peculiarities  and  his  violations 


270  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  moral  propriety  are  to  be  noted  as  we  study  liis 
style.  There  is  a  sense,  in  which  it  may  be  said,  that 
Swift  was  a  somewhat  better  author  than  a  man  and 
yet  his  personality  goes  far  to  determine  his  charac- 
ter as  a  writer.     We  remark — 

(1.)  Absence  of  Literary  Elegance. 

In  this  particular  at  least  the  man  and  the  author 
agreed.  If  Swift  had  been  a  purer  man  his  literary 
style  would  have  been  more  attractive.  Comparing 
his  prose  at  this  point  with  Addison's  or  Lamb's  or 
with  that  of  Irving,  its  inferiority  is  at  once  seen.  The 
texture  of  his  spirit  was  too  gross  and  coarse  to  make  it 
possible  for  him  to  conceive  of  literary  grace  and  finish 
as  Macaulay  conceived  of  them.  This  defect  is  seen 
in  subject  matter  and  in  style  alike.  He  discusses  all 
topics  in  a  kind  of  rough-and-ready  method  better 
adapted  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  many  than  of  the 
cultured  few.  No  one  is  so  bold  as  to  connect  Swift's 
name  with  the  highest  forms  of  literary  art. 

Hence,  he  is  never  more  at  home  as  a  prose  writer 
than  in  the  unrefined  imagery  of  Gulliver's  Travels  or 
in  those  harsh  invectives  which  he  pours  out  against 
his  political  and  ecclesiastical  foes.  In  some  of  his 
papers,  such  as,  The  Modest  Proposa!  this  buffoonery 
descends  to  ribaldry  and  the  low  water-mark  of  lit- 
erary rudeness  is  reached.  His  Journal  to  Stella 
reminds  one  of  Rosseau's  Confessions.  The  points  of 
similarity  between  the  French  infidel  and  the  En- 
glish Dean  are  not  infrequent. 

The  fact  is,  that  with  the  character  he  had  it  is 
amazing  that  his  style  is  as  clean  as  it  is.     His  ten- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.  — SWIFT.         271 

dencies  were  low.  He  would  rather  pen  a  quasi- 
moral  letter  to  Stella  than  discuss  a  high  class  theme 
on  the  lofty  ground  of  reason  and  moral  law.  Even 
if  his  theme  be — A  Project  for  The  Advancement 
of  Religion — he  will  succeed  in  disgusting  every 
sensitive  taste  ere  he  has  advanced  a  half  dozen 
paragraphs.  In  Gulliver's  Travels,  especially  at  the 
close,  the  effect  is  simply  revolting  until  we  are 
assured  that  of  all  satires  on  humanity,  Swift  himself 
is  the  most  pronounced.  Dr.  Johnson  is  rugged  in 
his  style;  Swift  is  rude.  Johnson  lacks  smoothness 
and  finish;  Swift  lacks  propriety. 

(2.)  An  Inferior  Order  of  Imagination. 

Though  this  faculty  has  its  special  function  in 
poetry  as  creative  and  pictorial,  it  has  in  prose,  also, 
rightful  place  as  historic,  philosophic  and  construc- 
tive. It  saves  prose  from  being  prosaic.  Both  on  its 
mental  and  moral  side,  Swift's  imagination  was  of 
the  lower  type.  Even  where  it  is  free  in  its  action 
from  moral  obliquity,  it  takes  the  form  of  fancy 
rather  than  that  of  imagination  proper,  and  rarely  if 
ever  rises  to  the  level  of  original  constructive  power. 
There  is  an  absence  of  a  high  poetic  power  of  rep- 
resentation as  applied  to  prose,  and  as  seen  in  the 
prose  of  Milton  and  Hooker.  In  this  respect,  he  was 
far  below  Addison,  \vhei*e  imaginative  ability  was 
sound  if  not  brilliant.  One  of  his  biographers — Sir 
Walter  Scott — goes  so  far  as  to  say — "He  never 
attempted  any  species  of  composition  in  which  either 
the  sublime  or  the  pathetic  was  required  of  him." 
In  the  sphere  of  allegory,  wit  and  analogy,  he  was  at 
home,  but  there  are  forms  of  mental   action   lying  ou 


272  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

the  borders  of  true  imagery  and  not  within  them. 
Here  again,  the  relation  of  mind  to  character  is  evi- 
dent. It  was  morally  impossible  for  Swift  to  rise  to 
that  sublimity  of  conception  which  marks  the  action 
of  natures  ethically  pure.  Such  a  modus  was  totally 
foreign  to  him  nor  could  he  adopt  it  when  offered. 
The  main  feature  of  sublimity  in  an  author  is  what 
Longinus  terms — elevation  of  spirit.  Of  this  the 
Irish  Dean  was  devoid.  He  walked  with  his  face  to 
the  earth. 

FEATURES  OF  MERIT. 

(1.)  Force  and  Spirit. 

Strange  extremes  exist  here  among  the  opinions  of 
English  critics.  Those  who  follow  the  guidance  of 
Dr.  Johnson  assert  that  there  was  little  or  no  force  in 
anything  he  wrote  and  that  those  treatises  which 
seemed  to  occasion  such  radical  changes  in  public 
sentiment  at  the  time  did  so  through  the  excited  pas- 
sions of  the  readers.  Others  see  nothing  but  im- 
passioned cogency  in  his  papers  and  are  willing  to 
credit  to  him  all  those  general  movements  in  society 
and  the  state  of  which  the  history  of  that  time  is  so 
full.  There  is  apparent  truth  in  each  of  these  posi- 
tions. The  first  is  plausible  in  that  those  political 
changes  might  have  been  due  to  the  good  judgment 
of  Swift  as  an  interpreter  of  the  nature  of  the  times 
rather  than  to  his  style  as  an  author.  This  theory 
would  give  him  credit  on  the  score  of  foresight  rather 
than  of  force.  As  to  the  second  view,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  some  of  these  questions  were  so  presented 
nh   to   awaken   and   maintain   attention   and  modify 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— SWIFT.  273 

materially  the  secret  councils  of  Queen  Anne.  No 
one  can  note  the  signal  triumph  of  the  Drapier  Let- 
ters as  to  the  social  economy  of  the  realm,  or  the  effect 
produced  by  the  Bicker  staff  Papers  and  other  writings 
and  consistently  charge  their  author  with  mental  weak- 
ness. Many  of  the  topics  which  he  discussed  were 
of  such  a  nature  in  their  practical  relation  to  the 
state  and  people  that  he  could  not  but  be  fervent  in 
their  expression.  It  is  true  that  the  allegorical  char- 
acter of  his  style  detracted  somewhat  from  its  literary 
power,  that  he  .had  in  his  style  little  of  the  strictly 
persuasive  element  of  oratorical  writing  or  impas- 
sioned strength  such  as  Milton  evinced,  still,  Swift 
cannot  injustice  be  termed  a  nerveless  or  indifferent 
prose  writer.  The  more  prolonged  and  thorough  one's 
study  is  of  his  real  character  as  seen  in  his  writings 
the  more  evident  it  is  that  he  was  possessed  of  true 
literary  vigor  and  rose  at  times  to  the  level  of  true 
passion.  Some  of  his  papers  such  as,  A  Letter  to  a 
Young  Clergyman,  seemed  to  decry  feeling  in  favor 
of  cold  rational  methods.  Here  he  has  been  misun- 
derstood. He  is  not  pleading  against  fervent  force 
in  style,  but  in  behalf  of  more  decided  intellectual 
skill.  One  of  his  trenchant  paragraphs  well  expresses 
his  view  as  he  writes  to  his  young  clerical  friend,  "  If 
your  arguments  be  strong,  in  God's  name  offer  them 
in  as  moving  a  manner  as  the  nature  of  the  subjeot 
will  properly  admit,  but  beware  of  letting  the  pathetic 
part  swallow  up  the  rational,  for  I  suppose  philoso- 
phers have  long  agreed  that  passion  should  never 
prevail  over  reason."  This  is  perfectly  clear  and 
eminently  safe  doctrine,  lie  holds  to  a  wise  and 
sound  rhetorical  principle  when  he  insists  that  dis- 


274  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

course  shall  be  possessed  of  as  much  passion  as  the 
subject  matter  will  allow.  To  come  short  ol*  that 
would  betray  weakness;  to  go  beyond  it  would  ex- 
pose to  ridicule. 

In  fact,  Swift  was  deeply  in  earnest  in  most  of  his 
writings.  Against  the  fraud  of  Wood  as  to  the  coin- 
age and  against  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  political 
abuses  of  the  time  he  protested  with  all  the  ardor  of 
a  Chatham  or  a  Burke. 

Swift's  style  is  in  no  sense  tame  or  insipid.  It 
bristles  and  sparkles  at  times,  and  in  its  idiomatic 
terseness  often  reminds  us  of  the  manner  of  Cariyle. 
Pungency  and  point  abound.  In  some  of  his  wri- 
tings which  are  morally  objectionable  and  which  as 
Mr.  Stephen  argues  justly  "  ought  to  have  been 
burnt"  this  incisive  element  is  most  apparent.  In  a 
literary  sense,  the  style  is,  thus,  readable.  Its  ani- 
mation attracts  to  the  perusal  of  it  and  we  are  not 
allowed  to  become  weary. 

Swift  played  a  part  here  that  was  played  in  France 
by  Voltaire,  or  by  Eabelais  to  whom  Voltaire  com- 
pared him. 

(2.)  His  Satirical  Power. 

In  this  he  has  been  rarely,  if  ever,  equaled.  He 
lias  been  aptly  called — The  Lord  of  Irony.  He  is  not 
simply  ironical  at  times  by  way  of  a  pleasing  literary 
variety  but  is  so  throughout.  He  is  more  than  sar- 
castic. Sarcasm  itself  seems  to  be  embodied  in  him. 
He  was  born  and  bred  a  satirist.  The  element  is  in 
the  blood  and  bone.  It  was  his  meat  and  drink  to 
indulge  in  it.     He  enjoyed  nothing  more  than  this 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.  — SWIFT.  275 

literary  dissection  of  a  victim  in  cold  blood.  "  Swift," 
says  Taine,  "  has  the  genius  of  insult.  He  is  an  inven- 
tor of  irony  as  Shakespeare  is  of  poetry."  As  he 
himself  proudly  asks  in  one  of  his  own  poems — 

"  Who  dares  to  irony  pretend 
Which  1  was  born  to  introduce 
Kenned  it  first  and  showed  its  use  ?  " 

This  was  an  honor  which  truly  belonged  to  him  in 
prose  as  to  Dry  den  and  Pope  in  verse,  and  it  was  un- 
safe for  any  of  his  day  to  question  his  right  in  this 
realm.  Ironical  as  he  was,  he  was  always  the  master 
of  the  irony  and,  in  the  main,  used  it  for  wise  and 
proper  purposes.  He  knew  where  and  when  and 
whom  to  strike.  It  is  a  redeeming  feature  in  his 
character  and  style  that  he  rarely  exercises  his  sar- 
casm apart  from  the  element  of  pleasantry.  There  is 
always  visible  a  vein  of  genuine  humor  and  good 
nature  so  that  however  much  the  language  might 
sting  and  smart,  it  did  not  awaken  revenge  on  the 
part  of  its  subject.  Addison  in  one  of  his  letters  to 
Swift  praises  him  for  this  quality  of  style.  One  of 
his  intimate  friends  speaks  of  it  as  his  "  unlucky 
quality  "  in  that  it  placed  him  at  the  disposal  of  de- 
signing men.     Swift  himself  speaks  of 

"His  vein  ironically  given, 
As  with  a  moral  view  designed 
To  cure  the  vices  of  mankind." 

He  suggestively  alludes  to  his  manner  of  writ- 
ing "  as  his  own  humorous  biting  way."  In  this 
respect,  Swift  was  something  of  a  humorist.  He  had 
a  kind  nature  after  all  and  in  this  particular  reminds 


276  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

us  more  of  the  manner  of  the  genial  Cervantes  than 
of  the  sour  and  cruel  Voltaire.  In  some  of  his 
shorter  papers  such  as, — An  Argument  against  Abolish- 
ing Christianity,  A  Project  for  the  Advancement  of 
Bdigion,  A  scheme  to  make  a  Hospital  for  Incurables, 
this  playful  pleasantry  rises  to  its  acme.  Beyond 
doubt,  lasting  good  was  done  by  him  in  his  own  day 
through  this  serio-comic  method.  He  struck  straight 
and  hard,  and  yet  with  no  malice  in  the  blow.  Swift 
is  said  to  have  cultivated,  purposely,  the  cynical,  cen- 
sorious style  and  to  have  indulged  in  irony  because 
he  loved  to  wound  a  sensitive  spirit.  Something  of 
this  there  was  here  and  there  evident,  but  it  is  not 
frequent  enough  to  characterize  his  style  as  acrid 
and  captious.  He  believed  in  the  thorough  criticism 
of  men  and  measures  and  adopted  satire  as  Butler 
and  Pope  did  and  as  Horace  and  Juvenal  did — for 
benign  ends.  In — The  Apology— which  he  wrote  as 
an  answer  to  those  who  were  offended  by  some  pas- 
sages in — The  Tale  of  a  Tub — he  dwells  at  length 
on  this  very  topic  and  proved  conclusively  that  his 
motive  was  good  throughout  his  satire.  No  one  can 
read  this  Apology  and  not  be  convinced,  as  never 
before,  of  the  ingenuousness  of  the  author  as  a  literary 
critic. 

(3.)  Individuality  and  Independence. 

Swift  is  unique  in  personality  and  style.  He  was 
himself  and  no  other  one.  In  the  most  wayward  of 
his  eccentricities  he  was  consistent  with  himself.  His 
oddness  was  to  him  perfectly  natural  and  had  he  at- 
tempted to  imitate  any  one  in  any  ptxrtioular  he  would 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— SWIFT.         211 

have  failed  as  certainly  as  Dr.  Johnson  would  have 
done  in  a  similar  attempt.  Swift  never  attempted 
strictly  dramatic  writing.  He  could  not  successfully 
personate  another.  Even  in  his  lunacy,  there  was  this 
personal  element.  There  was  "  a  method  in  his  mad- 
ness" and  it  was  his  own.  There  was  no  other  lunatic 
in  Britain  like  him.  As  this  principle  applies  to 
literature,  it  is  not  strange  to  read  in  a  preface  to  one 
of  the  editions  of  his  works—"  that  he  had  never 
been  known  to  take  a  single  thought  from  any  writer, 
ancient  or  modern."  This  is,  of  course,  an  extreme 
statement  and  yet  approximately  true.  No  prose 
writer  of  English  will  stand  testing  at  this  point 
better  than  Swift.  He  aptly  expresses  of  himself 
the  same  sentiment  which  Denham  expresses  of 
Cowley — that  he 

"  To  steal  a  hint  was  never  known, 
But  what  he  wrote  was  all  his  own." 

In  his  words  of  sound  advice  to  a  young  clergyman 
he  says,  in  speaking  of  the  excessive  use  of  common- 
place books  for  quotations,  "  I  could  wish  that  men  of 
tolerable  intellectuals  would  rather  trust  their  own 
natural  reason  improved  by  a  general  conversation 
with  books."  This  was,  in  fact,  his  own  uniform 
practice.  He  was  an  author  in  the  strict,  etymologi- 
cal sense  of  the  word — an  increaser  of  knowledge 
and  ideas.  He  pursued  the  plan  of  his  notable  pre- 
decessor— Bacon — in  aiming  to  add  to  the  sum  and 
enlarge  the  bounds  of  human  knowledge. 

Swift  docs  not  appear  to  have  been  so  much  a 
reader  of  books  as  an  observer  of   men    and    move- 


278  ENGLISH   PROSE 

ments  and  he  learned  from  the  latter  more  by  far 
than  he  could  have  learned  from  the  former.  He 
trusted,  as  he  would  say,  to  his  own  intellectuals.  In 
so  far  as  general  reading  would  enable  him  the  better 
to  utilize  what  he  saw  and  heard,  he  availed  himself 
of  it. 

Swift's  style  indicates  clearly  that  he  was  a  man 
who  observed  and  thought  for  himself.  His  most 
extensive  productions  have  for  their  very  occasion 
and  leading  idea  this  independence  of  view  in  matters 
secular  and  religious.  In  many  instances,  he  ran 
right  athwart  the  current  opinions  of  the  hour  and 
by  his  bold  assertions  assumed  the  part  of  a  reformer 
of  abuses.  The  opposition  that  he  so  provoked  by  his 
ecclesiastical  and  state  papers  proves  alike  his  inde- 
pendence of  view  and  his  personal  courage,  and 
when  assailed  he  was  always  ready  to  give  a  reason 
for  his  method:;. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  force  and  spirit  of 
his  style.  This  quality  was  the  direct  result  of  this 
freedom  from  servility  that  marked  the  man  as  it  did 
the  author.  Swift  had  grave  faults  but  he  was  not  a 
time-server  in  an  age  of  time-servers.  In  this  re- 
spect, he  was  even  Addison's  superior  as  he  was  Lord 
Bacon's  and  more  akin  in  temper  to  the  intrepid 
Milton.  Swift's  style  is  his  own.  Its  merits  and 
faults  are  his.  This  does  much  to  enhance  the 
merits  and  atone  for  the  faults. 

(4.)  Good  Use  of  English. 

No  other  English  writer  up  to  his  time  had  a  more 
sincere  love   for    his    native  tongue  than   did  Swift. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS—SWIFT.         279 

No  one  took  a  deeper  interest  in  its  development  and 
proper  use. 

One  of  the  first  questions  he  asked  as  to  any 
scholar  brought  to  his  notice  was,  as  to  his  know- 
ledge of  English  and  interest  in  it.  If  there  were 
ignorance  and  indifference  that  was  enough  to  mark 
the  man  as  grossly  deficient.  This  feature  appears  at 
frequent  intervals.  In  his  political  treatises  he  speaks 
of  it.  In  Gulliver's  Travels,  he  speaks  of  it;  in  his 
Journal  to  Stella,  he  naturally  refers  to  it  in  that 
among  his  early  pleasures  at  Temple's,  had  been 
Stella's  instruction  in  English.  At  times,  in  the 
course  of  his  writing  when  the  logical  structure 
would  not  demand  it  he  would  digress  to  the  praise 
of  his  native  speech.  There  are  two  of  his  papers 
in  which  he  dwells  with  special  emphasis  on  this 
subject;  These  are, — A  Letter  to  a  Young  Clergyman, 
and — A  Proposal  for  Ascertaining,  Correcting  and 
Improving  the  English  Tongue.  In  the  name  of  the 
educated  classes  of  the  nation  he  protests  against 
the  existing  imperfections  and  corruptions  of  the 
language,  especially  as  seen  in  common  conversation 
and  pulpit  discourse.  To  the  young  divine  he  writes, 
"  I  should  have  been  glad  if  you  had  applied  yourself 
a  little  more  to  the  study  of  the  English  Language, 
the  neglect  whereof  is  one  of  the  most  general  defects 
among  the  scholars  of  this  kingdom  who  seem  not  to 
have  the  least  conception  of  a  style,  but  remain  in  a 
flat  kind  of  phraseology  often  mingled  with  barbarous 
terms  and  expressions  peculiar  to  the  nation."  It  is 
inspiring  thus  to  see  a  master  of  English  style  re- 
buking and  stimulating  bis  countrymen  as  to  their 
vernacular.     It   was   because  there    were  so  few  of 


280  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

such  reformers  that  Swift's  position  was  important. 
In  this  respect  he  was  taking  up  the  work  which 
Milton  in  his  own  way  had  furthered  and  which  Dr. 
Johnson  was  materially  to  advance.  Scarcely  too 
much  can  be  said  on  Swift's  behalf  in  that  he  saw,  in 
this  respect,  the  need  of  the  hour  and  up  to  the 
measure  of  his  personal  ability,  satisfied  it.  The 
debt  of  modern  English  Philology  to  these  earlier 
enthusiasts  can  never  be  fully  paid. 

In  his  Proposal,  he  laments  that  "  our  language  is 
less   refined  than  those  of  Italy,  Spain  or  France;" 
notes  the   various   ways  in    which  a  language    may 
change;  alludes  to  the  special  excellence  of  English 
from   the  time  of  Elizabeth  to  the    Commonwealth; 
deprecates  the  excessive   corruptions    that   came    in 
with  the  civil  wars  so  that  the  court  was  "  the  worst 
school   in    England;"  grieves  over   the    tendency   to 
undue  abbreviations   of  words   and  syllables  and  to 
false  refinements  of  language  and   proceeds  to  sug- 
gest the  organization  of  a  body  of  scholars  for  the 
express  purpose  of  "ascertaining  (making  sure)  and 
fixing   our    language  forever."     He    closes    his    Pro- 
posal by  showing  how  such  an  enterprise  Avould  add 
to  the  glory  of  the  English  nation  and  serve  to  make 
the  history  of  that  day  full  of  interest  to  the  "  times 
succeeding."     No  later  scholar  has  ever  pleaded  for 
a  special  educational  object  with  more  zeal  and  dis- 
interested   love   than    did   Swift    for    this    Proposal. 
This,  if  nothing  else,    would  make  his  name  one  of 
interest   to   every   English    student    and  lead    us  to 
expect  as    we  open  his  writings    the    presence  of  a 
master  of  English.     Hence,  we  find  that  in  compass, 
and    quality  of  diction   as,   also,   in   correctness  and 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS — SWIFT.  2S1 

vigor  of  sentence,  Swift  stands  on  a  high  literary 
level.  In  these  respects,  no  writer  up  to  his  time 
has  fewer  prominent  faults  or  reads  more  as  a 
modern  essayist.  We  are  no  longer  obliged  to  do 
as  is  necessary  with  Hooker  and  Bacon  and  even 
Milton  to  have  frequent  resort  to  a  glossary  for  the 
exposition  of  words  and  phrases.  These  are  so  rare 
as  to  afford  no  barrier.  The  language  is  English 
throughout  and  is  a  more  modern  English  than  the 
Elizabethan.  We  are  in  the  period  of  Settled  En- 
glish rather  than  Formative  or  Transitional.  We 
have  as  yet  met  no  essayist  who  reads  as  smoothly 
and  fluently  and  none  to  which,  in  a  literary  point 
of  view,  the  student  of  style  can  be  more  safely 
referred. 

In  speaking  of  the  author's  use  of  English  there 
are  two  features  of  style  needing  emphasis. 

(a)  Ease  and  Naturalness  of  Expression. 

He  had  what  is  called  in  Scripture  "  the  pen  of  a 
ready  writer."     He  had  "  the  gift  of  utterance." 

Eccentric  as  he  was,  his  manner  as  a  writer  was 
marked  by  freedom  and  naturalness.  Whatever  art 
there  was  in  his  style  was  adroitly  concealed  and 
every  movement  was  marked  by  fluency  and  readi- 
ness. However  forced  his  imagery  seems  at  times 
to  be,  his  diction  was  spontaneous  and  always  ger- 
mane to  the  subject.  No  writer  had  more  thorough 
contempt  for  the  affected  fancies  of  Euphuism  and 
the  later  French  school  in  England  than  had  Swift, 
and  no  one  more  fully  carried  out  his  theory.  There 
was  nothing  artificial.  One  of  the  clearest  coiifir- 
mations  of  this  fact  is,  that  in  the  Journal  to  Stella, 
containing  Swift's  private   correspondence,    there  is 


282  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

no  greater  frankness  of  statement  than  in  his  more 
public  productions.  He  is  outspoken  and  ingenuous 
everywhere  and  in  this  respect  widely  differs  from 
such  authors  as  Goethe,  Schiller  and  Addison  who 
adopted  one  manner  in  public  discourse  and  quite 
another  in  private. 

Swift's  ease  of  style — the  absence  of  studied  effect, 
is  worthy  of  note.  If  the  law  propounded  by  Quiu- 
tilian  is  correct  and  one  is  to  write  so  clearly  that 
the  reader  must  understand  him  whether  he  will  or 
not  then  Swift  was  clear  and  natural.  He  wrote  as 
if  it  were  the  easiest  thing  possible  for  him  to  do. 
The  page  is  in  no  .sense  labored  but  facile  and  free. 
The  reader  as  he  goes  on  rarely  thinks  of  the  author 
but  of  the  subject  matter.  Language  with  Swift  was 
a  means,  not  an  end.  To  set  forth  his  ideas  was  the 
one  object  and  no  undue  attention  was  given  to 
the  medium  itself.  Herein  lies  the  perfection  of 
literary  style — that  in  its  consummate  art  it  gives 
the  impression  of  absolute  spontaneity.  As  Pope 
phrases  it — "  True  ease  in  writing  ernes  from  art, 
not  chance."  Swift  possessed  this  ease  which  is  the 
final  result  and  recompense  of  all  art.  His  sentences 
read  as   smoothly  as  those  of  Macaulay  and   Lamb. 

Nor  had  Swift  gained  such  ease  by  haphazard  but 
in  the  line  of  faithful  devotion  to  authorship  and 
literary  law. 

(b)    Verbal  Plainness. 

In  the  twelfth  chapter  of  his  Travels  he  writes — 
"  My  principal  design  being  to  inform  and  not  to 
amuse,  I  rather  choose  to  relate  plain  matter  of  fact 
in  the  simplest  manner." 

"  Proper    words    in    proper   places "    is    his    terse 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— SWIFT.         283 

definition    of    a   good   style.     In    his   advice    to    his 
clerical    friend,    he    is    especially    explicit    on    this 
point.     The   first  error  to   which  he    calls   attention 
is,  the   nse  of   "  obscure   terms "   of  which  he    adds 
"that    he    does   not    know    a    more    universal    and 
inexcusable  mistake."     He  speaks  of  it  as  especially 
noticeable   among   the    educated    "  that    whereas    a 
common  farmer  will  make  you  understand  in  three 
words  that  his  foot  is  out  of  joint,  a  surgeon,  after 
a  hundred  terms  of  art  will  leave  you  in  ignorance." 
In  a  somewhat  indignant   spirit  at  the  ostentatious 
diction  of  the  clergy,  he  writes — "  I  defy  the  great- 
est divine  to  produce  any  law,  either  of  God  or  man 
which   obliges  me  to  comprehend   the   meaning  of 
ubiquity,  entity,  idiosyncrasy  and  the    like."     He  is 
of  the   opinion   that  nine-tenths   of  the  terms  used 
could   be  changed    to  the  profit  of  the  hearer.     He 
asserts  the    principle,   that  the   divine  should    have 
nothing   to    say   to    the    wisest   of    men    which    the 
most   uneducated   could    not    understand;    that    the 
comprehension  of  washer-women  and  servant  maids 
and    daily   laborers,  should    be  the   standard,  rather 
than  the  conversation  of  savans.     He  is  never  weary 
in  speaking   of  simplicity   of  style  as  that   without 
which  no  human  production  can  arrive  at  any  great 
excellence.      He  takes  the  strong  position,  that  when 
men  are  not  plain,  it  is  either  from  malice  or  pride  of 
learning.     He  holds  that   the  path  of  clearness  lies 
in  the  line  of  nature.     On  this  theory,  a  man  to  be 
obscure    must    be    somewhat    perverse.     Continuing 
his  attack  against  the   pride  of  learning,  his  wrath 
gives  way  to  irony  and   humor  as  he    avows,    that 
all    the    terms  of  abstract  philosophy  have  with  all 


284  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

their  defects,  one  great  advantage — that  they  are 
equally  understood  by  the  vulgar  and  the  preach- 
er. He  alludes  very  pertinently  in  this  connection 
to  the  style  of  Bunyan  with  whose  simplicity  he 
was  charmed, — "  I  have  been  better  entertained 
and  more  inspired  by  a  few  pages  in  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress than  by  a  long  discourse  on  simple  and  com- 
plex ideas."  He  felt  attracted  as  Mr.  Fronde  has 
been  by  the  honest  Saxon  homeliness  of  the  dreamer's 
diction. 

In  all  this  language  we  have  a  revelation  not  only 
of  Swift's  theory  but  of  his  daily  practice  as  a  writer. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  respect  to  plainness  he  has 
no  superior  in  English  Prose.  No  one  has  written  so 
much  and  written  more  clearly.  In  the  study  of  his 
style,  there  is  a  marked  absence  of  any  show  of  learn- 
ing; of  the  drawing  of  distinctions  without  a  difference 
or  of  using  words  for  the  sake  of  using  them.  So 
prominent  is  this  feature,  that  what  is  called  the 
natural  style  of  prose  was  often  sacrificed  to  it.  He 
preferred  intelligibility  to  high  sounding  eloquence 
of  phrase.  He  was  so  intent  upon  saying  plain  things 
in  a  plain  way  for  plain  people  that  lie  was  in  danger, 
at  times,  of  reaching  the  opposite  extreme  of  tameness 
or  undue  familiarity.  Hence,  some  critics  speak  of  his 
style  as  ordinary.  The  fact  is  that  because  of  its 
simplicity  it  is  quite  exceptional.  Nothing  is  more 
common  than  literary  obscurity.  In  his  Antony-like 
method  of  "  speaking  right  on  "  he  needed  but  few  of 
the  devices  of  the  schools  and  it  was  his  bluntness 
that  offended  his  enemies  and  secured  his  victories. 
He  called  things  by  their  right-names,  used  terms  in 
their  commonly  accepted  senses  and  had  no  faith  in 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— SWIFT.         285 

Talleyrand's  theory  "  that  language  is  the  art  of  con- 
cealing thought." 

"  'Twas  his  occupation  to  be  plain."  As  to  this 
quality  of  style,  Swift  followed  in  the  line  of  Bunyan, 
Taylor,  Fuller  and  De  Foe  and  anticipated  all  the 
best  essayists  of  the  following  centuries.  He  wrote 
a  simpler  English  than  any  one  of  his  contemporaries 
Addison  not  excepted,  and  in  phraseology  ami  struc- 
ture was  the  most  modern  writer  of  the  Augustan 
Age.  In  this  respect,  the  student  of  expression  may 
find  in  Swift  much  to  admire  and  imitate.  It  is,  cer- 
tainly, a  matter  of  deep  regret  that  the  moral  charac- 
ter of  the  man  was  such,  and  many  of  his  discussions 
of  such  a  nature  that  the  true  excellence  of  the  style 
is  not  allowed  to  have  its  full  effect.  One  additional 
feature  of  his  style  must  be   noted. 

(5.)  Freedom  from  Pedantry  and  Hypocrisy. 

Mr.  Leslie  Stephen  in  the  biography  of  the  author 
makes  frequent  allusion  to  this  characteristic  of 
Swift's  style.  If  we  examine  closely  we  shall  find 
that  most  of  his  important  writings  were  occasioned 
by  his  intense  opposition  to  sham  and  parade  of 
every  sort.  He  was  the  Carlyle  of  the  Augustan  Age 
in  his  hatred  of  isms  and  frauds,  and  felt  himself  t<> 
be,  as  Carlyle  did,  a  self-appointed  censor  and  refor- 
mer. Thus,  The  Tale  of  a  Tub,  was  as  his  biographer 
writes  "another  challenge  thrown  down  to  preten 
lions  pedantry."  So,  in  The  Battle  of  the  Books,  he 
fought,  against  scholastic  pedantry  as  distinct  from 
ecclesiastical.  In  the  D rapier  Letters,  he  rose  to  in- 
dignant  protest  against  practical  corruption    under 


286  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

the  pretense  of  public  spirited  benevolence,  while  in 
Gullivers  Travels  he  indulged  in  a  scathing  satire 
against  humanity  itself  as  in  turn,  the  author  and 
the  victim  of  whims  and  delusions.  He  feels  it  to  be 
his  mission  to  expose  the  disguise.  So,  even  in  his 
sermons  and  smaller  papers,  satire  is  the  prominent 
word.  There  is,  as  might  be  supposed,  a  dangerous 
extreme  in  all  this  which  Swift  in  his  style  did  not 
escape.  He  laid  himself  open  to  the  charge  of  cyni- 
cal criticism  and  is  not  yet  wholly  exonerated.  At 
times,  as  in  Gulliver,  he  fairly  prefigures  the  modern 
pessimists  and  lacerates  for  the  sake  of  morbid  pleas- 
ure. Hence,  the  intense  bitterness  expressed  against 
him  in  his  own  day  so  that  on  his  own  confession,  no 
less  than  a  thousand  papers  were  penned  against  him 
as  a  partisan  in  church  and  state.  At  heart,  how- 
ever, he  was  a  better  man  and  the  explanation  of  his 
rancor  is  found  in  his  opposition  to  hypocrisy.  As 
far  as  this  sentiment  was  healthy  and  under  control 
it  added  vigor,  point  and  spirit  to  his  style  and 
made  him  a  practical  rather  than  a  speculative  writer. 
His  hatred  of  philosophy  arose  from  its  overdrawn 
distinctions  and  he  thoroughly  believed  in  every-day 
sense.  One  is  struck  in  this  respect  with  the  busi- 
ness-like character  of  many  of  his  papers.  He  did 
not  confine  himself  to  the  great  questions  of  church 
and  state,  society  and  letters,  but  wrote  on  the  most 
practical  topics  of  common  life  even  down  to — Direc- 
tions to  Servants.  In  his  best  mood  Swift  was  a 
helpful  critic.  In  his  wayward  moods,  he  was  a 
cruel,  heartless  cynic,  and  not  a  little  of  his  literary 
defect  as  a  writer  must  be  laid  at  the  door  of  mental 
despondency. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— SWIFT.         287 

In  fine,  the  prose  style  of  Swift  had  far  more  merits 
than  faults.  Lacking  in  grace  and  high  imaginative 
power  and  often  bordering  on  the  censorious  and 
cynical,  it  still  possessed  a  force,  a  satirical  point,  an 
individuality,  an  ease  and  plainness  of  English  usage 
and  a  downright  practical  bluntness  that  marked  it 
as  superior  and  make  it  still  representative.  No  one 
probably  will  ever  know  the  poignancy  of  his  per- 
sonal trials.  The  world  was  against  him  from  the 
outset  nor  has  he  ever  elicited  to  any  degree  such 
sympathy  as  has  been  freely  accorded  to  Lamb  and 
Goldsmith  in  hours  of  similar  discouragement.  That 
he  wrote  as  he  wrote  amid  such  experiences  is  the 
greatest  marvel  of  all.t  He  has  left  a  style  notable 
for  most  of  the  essential  qualities  of  good  writing, 
save  literary  finish  and  cannot  be  said  to  have  had 
his  superior  in  English  prose  up  to  the  days  of 
George  II. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Morley's  Swift  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.).  Forsters's 
Swift.  Thackeray's  English  Humorists.  Johnson's 
Lives  of  the  Poets. 


V 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  PROSE  STYLE  OF  JOSEPH  ADDISON. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  at  Milston,  May  1st,  1672.  Entered  Oxford, 
1687.  Traveled  in  Europe  in  1699.  Returned  in  1703. 
Was  Under-Secretary  of  State  in  1706.  Member  of 
Parliament  in  1708.  Secretary  to  Lord  Lieutenant  in 
Ireland,  1709.  Secretary  of  State  in  1717;  Resigned, 
1718.     Died  at  Kensington,  June  17th,  1719. 

Prose  Works  of  Addison. 

In  1709,  Steele  had  begun  the  publication  of  his 
first  periodical — The  Tatler.  He  had  written  but  a 
few  numbers  before  Addison's  attention  was  specially 
called  to  the  author  of  them.  His  services  were  at 
once  secured  by  Steele  in  the  further  prosecution  of 
the  work.  Addison's  history  as  a  writer  of  periodical 
prose  literature  begins  here  with,  The  Tatler  in  1709 
and  ends  in  1719  with,— The  Old  Whig. 

The  Tatler  began  April  12th,  1709  and  closed 
January  2nd,  1711.  It  was  begun  by  Steele  under 
the  name  of  Isaac  Bickerstaff  and  published,  thrice  a 
week.  Of  the  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  papers 
comprising   it,   one   hundred  and    eighty-eight  were 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS. — ADDISON.       289 

written  by  Steele  and  forty-two,  by  Addison.  The  re- 
mainder were  written  by  them  jointly  and  by  other 
less  famous  authors.  The  Spectator  began  March  1st, 
1711,  and  was  published  daily  to  December  6th,  1712. 
Of  its  six  hundred  and  thirty-five  numbers,  Addison 
wrote  two  hundred  and  seventy-four;  Steele,  two 
hundred  and  forty  and  Budgell,  thirty-seven.  The 
other  numbers  were  written  by  various  literary 
friends.  At  this  point,  The  Spectator  though  not 
completed  was  temporarily  abandoned  and  The  Guard- 
ian was  begun  by  Steele,  March  12th,  1713.  It  was 
continued  in  daily  issues  till  October  1st,  1713.  Of 
its  hundred  and  seventy-six  numbers  Steele  wrote 
eighty-two,  and  Addison  fifty-three.  In  June,  1714, 
The  Spectator  reappeared  in  its  eighth  volume.  It 
ran  nearly  through  the  year  with  three  papers 
weekly — "a  volume,"  wrote  Macaulay,  "containing 
perhaps  the  finest  essays,  both  serious  and  playful, 
in  the  English  Language." 

From  December  23rd,  1715,  to  June  29th,  1716,  a 
paper  called,  The  Freeholder,  appeared  once  a  week. 
It  was  purely  political,  and  Addisonian,  written  in 
the  interests  of  the  existing  government  of  The 
House  of  Hanover  against  the  claims  of  The  Preten- 
der and  of  The  Papacy.  Following  this,  were  a  few 
papers  called,  The  Old  Whig  in  reply  to  The  Ple- 
beian of  Steele;  an  article  or  two  to  The  Lover, 
and  a  few  scattered  tracts  on  the  political  and  com- 
mercial questions  of  the  time.  Before  these  period- 
icals appeared  there  appeared,  the  Essay  on  The 
Georgica  and  Remarks  on  Several  Parts  of  Italy,  in 
1697,  and  1705  respectively.  A  posthumous  work — 
Dialogues  on  Medals — 1721,  belongs  to  his  English 


290  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Prose,  as  also,  a  treatise,  in   1713,  on  The  Evidences 
of  Christianity. 

The  Essay  referred  to  is  prefixed  to  Dryden's  Vir- 
gil; the  Travels  in  Italy  are  full  of  interesting  refer- 
ences to  Roman  history  and  Letters;  the  Dialogues 
is  a  learned  and  curious  comparison  between  the 
inscriptions  on  medals  and  various  points  of  Classical 
history  alluded  to  in  classical  authors  while  the 
"Evidences"  consists  of  a  presentation  of  Pagan  and 
Jewish  testimony  to  Christ.  Incomplete  and  indif- 
ferent as  to  style,  it  is  important  as  evincing  the 
author's  inner  self.  As  he  nears  the  close  of  life  he 
turns  his  thoughts,  as  Bacon  in  his  Meditations  and 
as  Milton  in  his  Christian  Doctrine,  to  the  great 
subject  of  religious  belief  and  authority. 

His  Preference  for  Prose. 

Addison's  poetry  is  by  no  means  limited.  It  in- 
cludes a  period  of  production  from  1693,  when  he 
■wrote  in  verse  to  Dryden,  on  to  The  Drummer,  in 
1716,  and  is  marked  by  such  substantial  poems  as — 
The  Campaign,  Eosamond  and  Cato.  His  taste  and 
talents,  however,  were  in  prose.  If  Milton  here  used 
his  left  hand,  Addison  used  his  right.  As  Milton, 
he  gave  to  it  the  best  period  of  his  life  and  power. 
He  did  not  enter  on  prose  work  as  a  side  issue,  but 
as  the  main  issue.  Even  when  engaged  in  poetry 
he  felt  that  he  was,  in  a  sense,  out  of  place  and  time 
and  where  he  could  not  give  to  God  and  man  the 
best  account  of  himself.  At  the  close  of  one  of  his 
poems  he  gives  expression  to  these  feelings  as 
follows — 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — ADDISON.      291 

"I've  done  at  length  and  now,  dear  friend,  receive 
The  last  poor  present  that  my  Muse  can  give. 
I  leave  the  arts  of  poetry  and  verse 
To  those  that  practice  them  with  more  success. 
,A.nd  so,  at  once,  dear  friend  and  Muse,  farewell ! 
Of  greater  truth  I'll  now  prepare  to  tell." 

This  greater  truth  of  which  Addison  the  poet  spoke 
was  that  vast  body  of  practical  and  miscellaneous 
prose  of  which  he  was  to  be  the  author. 

His  Prose  Style. 

The  closing  sentence  of  Dr.  Johnson's  exhaustive 
essay  upon  our  author  has  become  widely  current. 
"  Whoever  wishes  to  attain  au  English  style,  familiar 
but  not  coarse  and  elegant  but  not  ostentatious  must 
give  his  days  and  nights  to  the  study  of  Addison." 
This  judicial  opinion  remains  to  this  day  substantially 
in  force.  Despite  the  adverse  ci'iticism  of  the  modern 
French  school  and  the  modern  English  school  of  lib- 
(  ral  tendencies,  these  Addisonian  Essays  still  hold 
their  ground  as  leading  specimens  of  English  prose 
in  many  of  its  qualities.  The  word  "familiar"  as 
Johnson  uses  it  is  not  yet  obsolete,  and  has  been  un- 
justly perverted  by  the  late  censors  to  mean  that 
type  of  prose  which  is  sharply  opposed  to  the  literary. 
It  is  familiar  in  the  sense  of  unconventional  and  not 
in  the  sense  of  common. 

SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  HIS  STYLE. 

(1.)  Literary  Gentleness  and  Grace. 

This  quality  may  be  expressed  by  various  terms. 
Johnson    called    it — elegance.     Mr.     Disraeli    would 


292  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

speak  of  it  under — The  amenities  of  Literature,  as  a 
neat  facility  of  expression  designed  to  attract  the  in- 
different and  please  the  fastidious.  As  we  examine 
the  nature  of  the  times  in  which  the  author  lived  and 
study  the  particular  object  which  he  had  in  view  in 
his  periodicals,  the  explanation  of  this  order  of  style 
will  appear  more  plainly. 

It  was  a  time  when  the  most  conciliatory  temper 
was  demanded  on  the  part  of  any  one  who  desired  a 
hearing.  The  author  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  po- 
litical excitement  of  Queen  Anne's  reign.  Popular 
opinion  was  restless  and  violent  and  the  standard  of 
popular  intelligence  was  low.  It  was,  thus,  of  the 
very  first  importance  for  a  public  instructor  to  accept 
the  civic  and  social  status  as  he  found  it  and  within 
the  limits  of  moral  rectitude  to  make  all  possible  con- 
cessions. "I  must  confess,"  says  Addison,  "were  I 
left  to  myself,  I  should  rather  aim  at  instructing  than 
diverting,  but  if  we  will  be  useful  to  the  world,  we 
must  take  it  as  we  find  it."  It  was  the  author's  aim 
to  conciliate  in  every  worthy  way:  to  adapt  himself 
to  his  age  rather  than  harshly  oppose  it;  to  be  gra- 
cious-even  in  his  criticisms  of  men  and  things  and 
thus  to  lead  the  populace  to  higher  levels.  He  knew 
that  in  their  ignorance  they  were  shy  of  the  teacher 
and  his  teachings  and  that  in  their  frivolity  they 
were  suspicious  of  religious  severity.  "  I  must,  how- 
ever," says  he,  "  entreat  every  person  who  reads  this 
paper  never  to  think  of  himself  or  any  of  his  friends 
aimed  at  in  what  is  said  for  I  promise  him  never  to 
draw  a  faulty  character  which  does  not  fit  at  least  a 
thousand  people,  or  to  publish  a  single  paper  that  is 
not  written  in  the  spirit  of  benevolence."     The  error 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.      293 

of  the  time  was  thus  rebuked  while  the  erring  were 
made  to  feel  that  the  truest  friend  they  had  in  Eng- 
land was  the  reproving  and  yet  kindly  Spectator.  A 
further  reason  for  the  exercise  of  this  affability  of 
style  is  found  in  the  fact  that  special  attention  was 
given  by  the  periodical  essayists  of  the  time  to  the 
delicate  questions  of  domestic  life  and  manners  in 
England.  The  Spectator  does  not  confine  itself  to  the 
outer  circle  of  public  life — to  the  ship,  the  market, 
the  place  of  prayer  and  the  Parliament,  A  more  se- 
cluded area  is  entered  and  Addison  is  found  in  the 
drawing-rooms  of  the  English  homes.  The  delicacy 
of  the  position  required  most  delicate  address  and 
description  and  a  skill  in  literary  art  possessed  by 
but  few.  As  the  populace  was  to  be  conciliated,  the 
leaders  of  the  realm  were  to  be  pleased.  All  the 
graces  of  prose  style  were  in  requisition.  Addison 
saw  at  once  that  truth  must  be  conveyed  in  affable 
manner.  The  most  sensitive  taste  was  to  be  con- 
sulted so  as  not  to  be  offended.  Criticism  must  be 
given  iii  kindly  forms  and  this  order  of  literary  gen- 
tleness was  no  more  needed  than  it  was  germane  to 
the  character  of  Addison. 

Addison's  style  is  here  the  man  himself.  His  prose 
is  marked  by  suavity  because  he  himself  was  amiable 
and  generous.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  just  here,  that 
he  purposely  devoted  several  of  his  best  papers  to  the 
discussion  of  Good-Nature.  He  defines  it,  shows  the 
evil  that  results  from  the  lack  of  it;  states  the  best 
methods  of  its  exhibition  and  exhorts  his  readers  to  its 
daily  illustration.  Bv  this  and  similarly  attractive 
features  of  his  prose,  the  reader,  unawares,  is  led 
into  fullest  sympathy  with  the  writer. 


291  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Quite  apart  from  the  subject  matter  of  his  periodi- 
cals and  their  aptness  to  the  ever  varying  circum- 
stances of  the  hour,  Addison  secured  his  audience  at 
the  English  breakfast  table  by  reason  of  his  genial 
good-nature  as  a  writer.  Tories  and  Whigs  were 
alike  charmed  by  it.  The  political  pages  of  The 
Freeholder  were  as  full  of  it  as  the  society  pages  of 
The  Tatler  and  The  Spectator.  Addison  was  wel- 
come for  the  same  reason  for  which  Butler  and  Swift 
were  unwelcome.  He  knew  as  they  did  not  the 
more  Bvmpathetic  side  of  human  nature  and  how  to 
address  himself  to  it.  lie  was  in  this  respect  the 
Washington  Irving  of  English  Prose. 

(2.)  Plainness  and  Precision. 

At  this  point  the  parallel  often  drawn  between  Ad- 
dison and  Swift  is  a  just  one.  In  fact,  their  literary 
characteristics  may  be  said  to  have  been  common  to 
the  age  of  Anne.  There  is  a  studied  absence  of  all 
such  features  of  style  as,  redundance,  inversion  and 
circumlocution.  There  was  very  little  verbal  tinsel 
for  the  sake  of  effect,  and  no  desire  to  conceal  ignor- 
ance under  a  veil  of  words.  The  average  intelligence 
of  the  time  demanded  clearness.  In  the  earlier  days 
of  Eyly  and  Sydney  when  the  chivalric  order  of  things 
somewhat  continued,  there  was  a  demand  for  the  ro- 
mantic and  Euphuism  was  the  result.  Now,  things 
had  changed.  The  new  civilization  was  practical 
and  desired  a  type  of  literary  expression  in  keeping 
with  its  character.  In  this  respect  he  did  what  Ba- 
con did  and  was  aided  by  the  time.  "  It  was  said  of 
Socrates"  writes  Addison   "that  he    brought  philos- 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.      235 

ophy  down  from  heaven  to  inhabit  among  men.  I 
shall  be  ambitious  to  have  it  said  of  me,  that  I  have 
brought  philosophy  out  of  closets  and  libraries, 
schools  and  colleges  to  dwell  in  clubs  and  assemblies, 
at  the  table  and  in  coffee  houses."  He  saw  at  once 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  or  any  one  else 
to  teach  philosophy  to  the  general  public  of  that  day 
in  the  strictly  philosophic  forms  as  Clarke  and 
Berkeley  taught  it  to  the  scholars.  He  therefore  in- 
troduced it  at  the  tables  of  English  yeomen,  divested 
of  all  its  scholastic  features  and  in  the  simplest  forms 
of  every  day  wisdom.  He  taught  them  philosophy 
without  their  suspecting  it.  It  was  in  the  popular 
meaning  of  the  term,  Common-Sense  Philosophy. 
He  did  not  endorse  the  doctrine  that  in  order  to  be 
profound  a  man  must  be  unintelligible  or  that  be- 
cause a  man  was  understood  by  the  average  mind  he 
was  thereby  proved  to  be  mentally  lacking.  He  did 
not  believe  in  the  idea  that  language  was  the  art  of 
concealing  thought  and  therefore,  never  hesitated  to 
decry  that  so  called  literary  style  which  was  learnedly 
obscure  and  mysterious.  The  prose  writers  of  this 
age,  as  we  shall  see,  had  their  faults,  but  they  were 
not  in  this  direction.  They  wrote  plainly  to  plain 
people. 

A  question  of  interest  has  been  started  here  by  the 
critics — to  what  degree  this  adaptation  of  style  to  the 
middle  classes  modified  Addison's  intellectual  power? 
Did  he  not  in  common  with  his  colleagues  sacrifice 
himself,  at  this  point,  to  popular  weakness  ?  Did  he 
not,  moreover,  lower  the  line  of  English  Prose  from 
the  artistic  to  the  plebeian  level  ? 

Whatever    the  order  of  Addison's    mind    was,  his 


296  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

clearness  of  statement  and  method  were  natural. 
Homeliness  of  speech  sometimes  bordering  on  blunt- 
ness  was  as  much  a  part  of  him  as  it  was  of  Bunyan 
or  Fuller.  Whatever  he  could  or  could  not  do  in  the 
sphere  of  abstract  thought,  he  made  it  a  matter  of 
conscience  to  write  and  talk  in  the  language  of  the 
many.  So  marked  is  this  feature  that  it,  at  times,  is 
carried  to  an  extreme  and  he  becomes,  as  Wordsworth 
in  poetry,  too  familiar.  Still,  the  fault,  if  a  fault, 
was  pardonable,  and  far  more  desirable  than  the 
frequent  error  of  undue  dignity  and  loftiness  of 
style.  Nor  can  it  be  argued  that  this  in  itself  be- 
tokened an  inferior  order  of  intellectual  power.  Other 
things  being  equal,  precision  and  plainness  indicate 
clear  and  wide  thinking.  Some  genius  is  required  to 
present  high  truth  in  ordinary  forms  and  it  is  unfor- 
tunate, at  least,  to  view  such  a  result  as  indicative 
of  average  talent  only.  In  short,  Addison's  mental 
rank  cannot  be  determined  at  this  point  one  way  or 
the  other.  The  decision  must  be  made  up  from  the 
sum  total  of  his  writings  and  doings.  It  is  in  point 
here  to  note  that  verbal  precision  was  carried  to  an 
unhealthful  extreme  by  Addison  and  his  school.  So 
particular  was  he  in  composition,  that,  according  to 
Warton,  he  would  often  stop  the  press  to  insert  a 
new  preposition  or  conjunction.  He  was  as  fastidious 
in  prose  as  Pope  and  Dry  den  were  in  poetry.  The 
greatest  defect  of  Addison's  style  lies  here,  in  close 
connection  with  one  of  his  greatest  merits.  It  is  the 
absence  of  a  deep  undertone  of  pathos,  what  the 
French  call,  unction.  All  is  clear,  correct  and  ele- 
gant, but  there  is  no  literary  inspiration.  The 
reader  would    often    tolerate  a  degree    of  incorrect- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.        297 

ness,    if  so   be  a  more    emotional    expression    might 
ensue. 

Addison    might    have    been    less    correct,    indeed, 
without  being  incorrect  and  would  have  more  than 
gained  in  power  what  he  lost  in  precision.     It  is  at 
this  point  that  Mr.  Taine  indulges  in  his  most  pun- 
gent  criticism  of  Addison    and  not  without  reason, 
lie   speaks   of  his    "  commercial  common-sense;  his 
business-like   resolutions   and    maxims."     "What  in 
the  name  of  heaven,"  asks  Taine,  "  would  a  French- 
man do  if  in  order  to  move  him  to  piety  he  was  told, 
that  God's  omniscience  and  omnipresence  furnished 
him  with  three  kinds  of  motives  and  then  subdivided 
these  into  first,  second  and  third  ?    To  put  calculation 
at  every  stage;  to  come  with  weight  and  figures  into 
the  thick  of  human  passion;  to  ticket  them  and  clas- 
sify them  like  bales;  to  tell  the  public  that  the  inven- 
tory is  complete  and  to  lead  them  by  the  mere  virtue 
of  statistics  to  honor  and  duty, — such  is  this  Addi- 
sonian method."     This  is  irony  in  essence  and,  yet, 
not   altogether   undeserved.     Verbal  precision  over- 
reaches itself  in  Addison.     It  was,  indeed,  the  error 
of  the  age.     Still  more  marked  in  poetry,  it  was  too 
conspicuous  in  prose,  so  that  the  artificial  maxims  of 
Boileau  ruled  in  both  spheres.     Correctness  was  con- 
founded with  mechanism.  Finish  and  fervor  excluded 
each    other.     Here  and  there  in  Addison's  writings 
there    are    traces   of  true   passion.     In  some  of   his 
Italian  Letters  when  his  soul  is  stirred  by  the  charms 
of  nature    and  art;  in    his   sacred  lyrics   and    other 
poetry,   the  inner  life  is  revealed.     There  was  some 
emotion,  if  indeed,    it    could    be  reached.     Still,  his 
temperament    was   not    of    the    impassioned     order. 


298  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Even  in  poetry  it  is  not  sufficiently  evident  and  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  Addison  could  never  have 
made  an  eminent  poet.  His  emotional  range  was 
much  narrower  than  his  mental.  We  have  compared 
him  to  Irving  in  gentleness  and  grace.  At  this  point 
the  comparison  fails.  He  lacked  the  sympathetic 
soul  which  marks  the  highest  characters  in  prose 
or  poetry.  Addison,  though  among  the  first  of  our 
modern  prose  writers,  is  by  no  means  the  first.  Part 
of  the  explanation  lies  in  his  want  of  deep-seated, 
impassioned  earnestness.     He  was  careful  to  a  fault. 

(3.)  Wit  and  Humor. 

As  among  the  Periodicals  of  the  time  in  which 
Addison  had  a  greater  or  less  interest  the  Spectator 
revealed  his  personality  more  than  did  the  Tatler  or 
Guardian,  so  it  may  be  said  that  among  all  the  au- 
thor's literary  characteristics,  humor  is  the  most 
prominent.  In  fact,  no  student  of  Addison  can  un- 
derstand him  or  his  prose  apart  from  a  clear  appre- 
ciation of  this  quality.  There  is  a  spontaneous 
overflow  of  good-nature  in  his  papers  which  carries 
all  before  it  and  refreshes  the  mind  of  the  reader.  So 
decided  is  this  element  in  the  author's  personality, 
and  so  desirous  is  he  that  every  expression  of  it  shall 
be  genuine,  that  he  takes  occasion  in  several  of  his 
papers  to  show  to  his  readers  the  precise  nature  of 
this  quality  of  style.  He  is  at  special  pains  to  call 
the  attention  of  all  aspirants  in  prose  composition  to 
the  principle  of  naturalness  as  essential  to  all  true 
humor.  It  was  extremely  fitting  that  in  the  reign 
of  Anne  when  every  member  of  a  club  house  thought 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS  — ADDISON.       299 

himself  a  born  wit,  Addison  should  fee'  compelled  to 
take  up  his  pen  and  modestly  call  attention  to  his 
own  merits  and  success  as  a  Humorist.  Such  papers 
were  as  readily  called  forth  by  the  excessive  literary 
affectation  of  the  time  in  this  direction  as  were  the 
protests  of  Jeremy  Collier  against  the  immoral  drama 
of  his  day.  If  wit  was  attempted,  the  result  was 
either  burlesque  or  pedantry.  Every  writer  ventured 
upon  the  most  absurd  allusions  and  figures.  It  was 
the  golden  age  of  the  anagram,  the  acrostic  and  the 
far-fetched  simile.  Not  to  be  a  punster  was  an  un- 
pardonable literary  defect.  The  Euphuism  of  the 
days  of  Sydney  was  revived.  We  may  well  imagine 
the  excessive  limits  to  which  this  vicious  custom  was 
at  length  carried  until  a  literature  which  should  be 
daily  increasing  in  power  was  in  danger  of  becoming 
a  victim  to  the  most  extreme  mental  conceit  of  the 
hour.  Among  all  the  other  benefits  which  accrue  to 
English  Letters  from  the  work  of  Addison  as  a  prose 
writer,  there  is  scarcely  a  more  important  one  than 
this— the  restoration  of  English  humor  to  its  rightful 
sphere.  In  every  way  he  asserted  that  genuine  wit 
need  not  be  allied  to  gross  vulgarity  as  was  true  in 
Dryden's  time,  but  could  do  its  best  work  in  the  in- 
terests of  virtue  and  public  morals.  "Among  all 
kinds  of  writing,"  says  Addison,  "there  is  none  in 
which  authors  are  more  apt  to  miscarry  than  in  works 
of  humor.  Nothing  is  so  much  admired  and  so  little 
understood  as  Wit."  This  language  is  used  by  the 
author  in  close  connection  with  that  notable  state- 
ment— "  that  the  great  and  only  end  of  these  my 
speculations  is  to  banish  vice  and  ignorance  out  of 
the  territories  of  Great  Britain."     This  element  of 


300  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

pleasantry  in  the  papers  of  Addison  is  exhibited  in 
various   ways,    and  most  especially,  in  the  different 
characters  brought  before  us  as  mentioned  by  Steele 
in  the  second  number  of  The  Spectator.     Prominent 
among  these  as  the  central  figure  of  Addison's  heroes, 
no  one  would  fail  to  place  the  name  of  Sir  Koger  de 
Coverle\ .     He  is  a  general  favorite  among  the  author's 
readers  and,  indeed,  the  author's  favorite  so  that  he 
declared  they  were  born  for  one  another.     Sir  Roger 
was   a  large,   natural,   eccentric  country  gentleman 
and   the   leading   representative   of  the   old  October 
Club.     By  his  strict  adhesion  to  Tory  principles  in 
church  and  state  he  was  a  true  partisan  and  politi- 
cian of  his  time.     Filled  to  the  brim  with  whims  and 
fancies  he  was  the  life  of  every  circle  he  entered  and 
won  the  esteem  even  of  the  great  by  his  unbounded 
joviality.     Saddened  by  unsuccessful  love;  indifferent 
to  the  fashions  of  the  world  so  that  his  doublet  had 
been  "in  and  out  a  dozen  times";  too  impartial  not 
to  be  an  oracle  and  far  too  genial  not  to  be  a  friend, 
he  put  all  critics  of  character  at  defiance  and  is  still 
Sir  Roger — nothing  more  nor  less.     Whether  due  to 
partial  insanity,  belief  in  witchcraft,  confirmed  rus- 
ticity or  settled  intent  to  deceive,  his  acts  are  best 
accounted  for  by  Addison  himself  as  he  says — "  My 
friend,  Sir  Roger,  with  all  his  good  qualities,  is  some- 
thing of  a  hermit.      His  virtues  as  well  as  imperfec- 
tions are  tinged   by  a  certain    extravagance   which 
makes  them  particularly  his."     Some  references  will 
justify  this  opinion.     Sir  Roger    in    the  choice  of  a 
chaplain    made    it   a   requisite   that    the    incumbent 
should  possess   a  clear  voice,  a  good  aspect  and  a 
slight  knowledge  of  backgammon.     As  soon  as  he 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.       801 

is  settled  in  his  charge  he  makes  him  a  present  of  ail 
the  good  sermons  which  have  been  printed  in  English. 
Of  the  haunted  house  on  his  country  estate  he  tells 
us,  that  three-fourths  of  the  rooms  are  unapproachable 
on  account  of  strange  sights  and  sounds  and  that  the 
only  way  to  utilize  them  is  to  require  his  chaplain  to 
occupy  them  in  turn.  In  describing  the  conduct  of 
Sir  Roger  at  church  the  humorous  Addison  surpasses 
himself.  The  walls  of  the  church  are  hung  with 
texts  of  Sir  Roger's  own  choosing.  In  his  capacity 
as  landlord  of  the  ecclesiastical  estate,  he  allows  to 
no  one  but  himself  the  privilege  of  sleeping  during 
service.  In  singing  the  psalms  he  never  finishes 
when  the  others  do  and  during  prayer  stands  among 
the  kneeling  suppliants  to  see  if  any  of  his  tenants 
are  missing.  Thus  the  papers  go  on,  containing 
some  of  the  richest  humor  in  English  Prose.  As  to  Sir 
Roger,  Dr.  Drake  truthfully  remarks — "that  with 
the  exception  of  Falstaff,  he  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
humorous  character  ever  drawn."  In  addition  to 
this  leading  personage  Ave  note  the  celebrated  Tory 
Fox  Hunter,  confirmed  in  his  partialities  and  rough 
in  his  hearing,  loud  mouthed  on  all  occasions  in 
opposition  to  existing  government.  There  is  also, 
Sir  Andrew  Freeport,  the  indomitable  London  mer- 
chant and  full  of  the  maxims  of  trade.  Also,  Captain 
Sartoy,  retired  from  the  sea  and  too  modest  to  push 
his  talent  to  promotion.  Also,  the  well-bred  Will 
Honeycomb,  affable  and  coquettish,  and  last  of  all, 
the  aristocratic  Wimble.  In  each  of  these  characters, 
the  versatile  Addison  finds  fitting  occasion  to  express 
mother  wit.  The  same  skill  in  pleasantry  is  visible  if 
weexaminethe  papers  themselves  as  distinct  from  the 


302  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

characters.  In  the  Spectator  there  may  be  cited,  his 
paper  on  Superstitious  People;  on  The  Clubs  in  Lon- 
don, including  the  Everlasting  Club;  on  Men  of 
Science;  his  Adieu  to  the  Liberal  Professions;  his 
paper  on  Fans  and  the  various  excesses  of  feminine 
attire.  In  the  Guardian  and  Tatler  there  may  be 
noted  his  paper  on  Courtship  and  Amorous  Deceits. 
Even  in  the  partisan  Freeholder  called  by  some — the 
political  Spectator,  the  sterner  principles  of  state- 
craft as  advocated  by  Tory  and  Whig  are  made  at- 
tractive to  the  popular  taste  by  a  wise  infusion  of  the 
humorous.  Mention  has  been  made  of  the  extreme 
formalism  of  Addison's  style.  It  is  here  in  place  to 
add  that  the  great  corrective  of  this  error  is  found  in 
the  quality  now  under  discussion.  Had  Addison 
failed  here,  his  prose  would  have  failed  to  reach  the 
popular  mind  by  its  monotonous  precision.  It  atoned 
for  the  absence  of  passion  and  made  the  periodical 
welcome  in  English  homes.  It  gave  spice  and  flavor 
to  every  article.  It  was  because  the  humor  of  Ad- 
dison was  similar  to  that  of  Lamb  and  unlike  that 
of  Swift  and  Pope  that  it  found  a  ready  reception. 

(4.)  Versatile  and  Popular. 

This  feature  has  probably  struck  every  reader  of 
Addison's  prose  and  needs  but  brief  notice.  It  re- 
minds us  of  the  later  opulence  of  Dickens  and  Scott 
in  the  sphere  of  Fiction.  He  touches  on  all  topics, 
ancient  and  modern;  in  church  and  state  and  society 
and  home;  in  science,  philosophy,  history,  art  and 
criticism.  In  this  particular,  he  is  a  distinctively 
modern    writer,    rambling    in    a    discursive    manner 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.      303 

through  the  open  field  of  periodical  themes  pausing 
at  any  one  point  but  long  enough  to  glance  and 
sketch  and  describe.  It  is  thus  that  he  displayed  a 
peculiar  adaptiveness  to  the  common  intelligence  of 
the  time.  In  this  he  had  no  predecessor  who  was 
his  equal.  He  was  a  kind  of  self-appointed  literary 
representative  of  the  great  middle  class  of  his  time — 
the  Prose  Laureate  of  the  People.  This  was  his 
ruling  idea  as  a  prose  writer  and  he  succeeded  in 
applying  it.  He  inclined  to  the  desultory  method  in 
the  choice  and  treatment  of  a  theme  and  studiously 
avoided  whatever  he  deemed  to  be  outside  the  area 
of  the  popular  thought  and  habit.  Addison's  papers 
were  read  by  the  educated  classes,  by  the  statesmen 
and  leaders  of  the  time.  They  were,  however,  writ- 
ten for  the  masses  and  were  versatile  in  order  to  be 
the  more  attractive. 

It  is  at  this  point,  once  again,  that  the  open  ques- 
tion of  Addison's  mental  ability  as  a  prose  writer, 
already  referred  to,  rises  into  new  prominence.  It 
is  held  by  some  that  this  versatility  and  popularity 
of  style  were  the  necessary  result  of  an  inferior  order 
of  mind  that  must  atone  for  want  of  thoroughness 
by  frequent  change  of  topic  and  brevity  of  discussion. 
Others  more  charitably  refer  this  order  of  prose  to 
the  definite  purpose  of  the  author  and,  more  than 
this,  to  a  voluntary  and  yet  reluctant  sacrifice  of  per- 
sonal taste  to  the  public  good.  He  was  discursive 
because  Ik;  felt  he  must  be  so  in  order  to  be  under- 
stood and  helpful.  The  one  class  of  critics  holds  that 
Addison  could  no  more  have  written  a  prolonged 
treatise  than  Wordsworth  could  have  written  an  epic. 
The  other  holds,   that  he  preferred  the  appreciation 


304  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  the  people  to  the  applause  of  the  great  and  could 
have  been  more  famous  by  being  less  useful. 

As  suggested,  whether  Addison  was  or  was  not  a 
writer  of  high  intellectual  power,  is  not  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  qualities  of  style  in  question,  but 
must  rest  on  the  sum  total  of  his  qualifications  as  a 
man  and  an  author. 

This  much  however  is  to  be  said — that  he  is  not  to 
be  pronounced  mentally  inferior  simply  because  his 
style  was  discursive  and  readable.  It  is  a  theory 
quite  too  current  and  altogether  incapable  of  proof 
that  to  make  a  simple  thing  complex  is  the  mark  of 
great  intellectual  acumen  while  it  indicates  a  lower 
type  of  brain  power  to  speak  and  write  so  that  com- 
mon minds  may  apprehend  the  meaning.  This  is 
certainly  paying  a  premium  to  vague  profundity  and 
discourages  all  that  lies  in  the  line  of  a  pure  literary 
simplicity.  In  so  far  as  Addison's  prose  is  intel- 
ligible, in  so  far  is  it  successful  as  a  form  of  literary 
art  and  ranks  above  all  those  examples  of  prose 
which  seek  abstruseness  at  the  expense  of  plainness. 
Other  things  being  equal,  simplicity  is  a  mark  of 
ability  and  clearness  of  expression  indicates  a  clear 
head. 

(5.)  Ethical. 

Addison's  simple  faith  in  Scripture  and  morality 
showed  itself  in  all  that  he  wrote.  "There  are  in 
these  papers,"  he  says,  "  no  fashionable  touches  of 
infidelity,  no  satire  upon  marriage  and  popular  top- 
ics of  ridicule.  If  the  stage  becomes  a  nursery  of 
folly,  I  should  not  be  afraid  to  rebuke  it.      In  short, 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.      305 

if  I  meet  with  anything  in  city,  court  or  country  that 
shocks  morality  or  good  manners,  I  shall  use  my 
utmost  endeavors  to  make  an  example  of  it."  This 
is  that  Addisonian  morale,  too  decided  and  delicate  to 
be  treated  with  justice  by  Mr.  Taine  or  even  to  be 
appreciated  by  a  Gallic  conscience. 

To  Addison  must  be  conceded  the  merit  of  having 
called  the  attention  of  his  age  to  the  divinely  or- 
dained relation  of  authorship  and  character.  He  was 
in  the  strictest  sense,  a  Christian  Essayist  and  penned 
his  papers  in  behalf  of  pure  morals.  li\  as  many 
maintain,  his  periodical  prose  furnishes  us  with  the 
first  example  in  English  Letters  of  an  absolutely  safe 
model  for  the  imitation  of  the  young  writer,  then,  it 
becomes  a  matter  of  highest  moment  that  such  a 
model  is  founded  on  Christian  principles.  In  this 
respect,  he  placed  himself  in  line  with  Hooker,  Bacon 
and  Milton  and  radically  apart  from  the  standards 
of  Swift  and  many  of  the  later  novelists.  He  did 
much  to  establish  the  ethical  character  of  our  popular 
prose  and  was  in  every  sense  a  writer  of  Good 
English. 

This  Addisonian  influence  still  remains  among  us. 

Critical   Ability. 

Before  leaving  the  discussion  of  Addison  s  prose 
style  there  remains  a  topic  of  special  interest. — We 
refer  to  the  open  question  of  his  Critical  Ability  a< 
indicated  in  his  distinctively  critical  papers.  Wa  < 
it  superficial  or  thorough  and  philosophic?  On  the 
one  side,  are  found  the  names  of  Hood  and  Stewart 
and  on  the  other,  those  of  Johnson,  Drake  and  Aiken, 


306  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

while  all  the  later  historians  of  our  literature  commit 
themselves  to  one  of  these  two  positions.  The  spe- 
cific attention  which  Addison  devoted  to  this  de- 
partment of  prose  was  by  no  means  limited.  In 
many  of  his  papers  which  cannot  be  classed  as  crit- 
ical throughout,  is  found  at  frequent  intervals,  the 
studied  expression  of  critical  views  on  current  topics. 
In  addition  to  his  remarks  on  Wit  and  Humor  al- 
ready indicated,  critical  papers  are  given  on — the 
Opera,  Tragedy  and  Comedy,  Early  English  Poetry, 
English  Language,  Genius,  Poetry  of  Pindar,  Litera- 
ture, Oratory,  Poetry,  Music,  The  Art  of  Composition, 
Pope's  Essay  on  Criticism,  The  Pleasures  of  the 
Imagination  and,  as  most  important,  The  Paradise 
Lost  of  Milton.  This  last  production  in  common 
with  most  of  the  others,  has  been  made  the  occasion 
of  severe  remark.  The  view  which  Drake  attempts 
to  establish  is  a  plausible  one  and  in  the  author's 
favor  as  a  writer  bent  on  the  people's  good.  On  this 
theory,  the  national  habit  and  literary  taste  were 
such  at  the  time  that  the  people  would  not  and  could 
not  accept  abstract  criticism.  Addison  being  desir- 
ous of  calling  their  attention  to  topics  of  substantial 
interest,  felt  bound  to  adopt  the  informal  method 
which  he  did  in  place  of  the  rigid  systems  of  Aris- 
totle and  Boileau.  While  the  beauties  or  blemishes 
of  any  particular  writer  might  be  so  indicated  as 
that  all  could  see  and  estimate  them  aright,  he  knew 
that  his  object  would  be  quite  defeated  if  the  reader 
were  invited  formally  to  a  learned  discussion  upon 
the  nature  of  beauty.  He  knew  that  if  the  subject 
of  poetry  was  to  be  presented  successfully  to  the  pub- 
lic of  his  day  it  was  to  be  by  objective  example  and 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.      307 

not  by  subjective  analysis.  It  was  merely  a  choice 
of  methods — the  technical  or  the  simple.  He  delib- 
erately chose  the  latter  and  for  the  same  reason  that 
he  chose  a  versatile  and  popular  style,  in  all  his  prose. 
This  informal  method  he  applied  to  Milton's  great  epic 
after  it  had  been  well-nigh  consigned  to  oblivion  by  the 
excesses  of  the  Restoration  and  Revolution  of  1688. 

To  Addison's  critical  study  of  Paradise  Lost  was 
directly  due  that  reawakening  of  English  interest  in 
the  poetry  of  Milton  which  had  for  its  immediate 
result  the  revival  of  interest  in  literature  itself  and 
for  its  final  result,  the  elevation  of  public  taste.  Just 
here,  it  is  in  place  to  note  the  quality  of  Addison's 
imagination  as  bearing  on  the  estimate  of  his  critical 
power.  He  speaks  of  "  a  sound  imagination  as  next 
to  a  clear  judgment  and  a  good  conscience  the 
greatest  blessing  of  life."  In  this  emphatic  use  of 
the  word,  sound,  the  author  has  given  us  the  best 
description  of  this  faculty  as  he  possessed  and  used 
it.  It  was  sound  rather  than  sublime;  healthy  rather 
than  brilliant.  It  was  Baconian  in  its  purity  with- 
out the  Baconian  strength  and  richness.  As  far  as 
it  went,  it  was  normal  and  potent.  It  went,  how- 
ever, but  a  comparatively  short  distance  beyond  the 
bounds  of  actual  life.  There  was  not  that  mental 
reach  and  surety  which  ever  mark  the  action  of 
genius.  Addison's  critical  ability  in  literature  may 
be  judged  here;  aright  when  it  is  said  that  it  was  not 
in  his  power  to  have  given  the  best  criticism  of 
Paradise  Lost  and  kindred  works  because  of  the 
absence  of  that  creative  and  constructive  imagina- 
tion which  must  to  some  degree  exist  in  the  censor 
as  well  as  in  the  poet. 


308  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

It  was  sound  but  did  not  soar  high  enough  above 
the  earth  to  see  the  supernal  and  sublime.  It  is  thus, 
that  in  Addison's  papers  we  must  content  ourselves 
with  fable  and  allegory;  with  fancy  and  picture,  and 
not  too  earnestly  seek  the  presence  of  "  sacred  inven- 
tion." Addison's  critical  prose  is  a  safe  and  helpful 
order  of  prose  but  not  the  highest.  He  did  good 
work  here  but  his  forte  was  elsewhere.  It  was 
rather  in  the  sphere  of  life  and  manners  than  in  that 
of  literary  art  that  his  critical  power  was  best  ap- 
plied. He  wrote  better  about  men  and  things  than 
about  books. 

In  a  word,  Addison's  prose  style,  whatever  its 
merits  or  demerits,  was  a  better  practical  style  than 
any  that  preceded  the  Augustan  Age;  was  in  keep- 
ing with  the  needs  and  spirit  of  the  time  and  fixed 
in  a  real  sense  a  standard  of  prose  on  the  basis  of 
which  later  authors  have  built  better  and  still  better 
forms.  Take  it  together,  no  writer  of  his  day  wrote 
a  better  English  and  while  many  of  his  successors 
have  wielded  an  abler  pen  in  the  realm  of  prose,  no 
one  of  them  has  used  the  talent  that  he  had  to  bet- 
ter advantage  aud  no  one  of  them  would  be  spared 
from  our  literary  records  with  more  ingenuous 
regret. 

There  is  such  an  order  of  prose  style,  still,  as  the 
Addisonian.  In  common  with  the  Johnsonian  and 
De  Quinceyan,  it  holds  a  place  and  holds  its  own. 
The  Spectator  and  Tatler  are  now  little  read  but  the 
prose  of  their  author  has  become  an  historic  and  es- 
sential part  of  English  Letters  and  English  Style, 
Macaulay  and  Dickens  have  written  better  because 
he   wrote  so  well  and  every  English  literary  histo- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— ADDISON.       309 

rian  must  still  concede  the  fact  of  his  presence  and 
his  power. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Courthope's  Addison  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.)  *  Essays 
of  Macaulay.  Taine's  History  of  Eng.  Lit.  Thack- 
eray's Eng.  Humorists.  -The  Spectator.  Kellogg's 
Eng.  Lit. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OP  SAMUEL  JOHNSON. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  at  Lichfield,  Sept.  18th,  1709.  In  Oxford, 
1728.  Obliged  by  poverty  to  withdraw.  Usher  of 
a  school  at  Bosworth,  1731.  Working  for  booksel- 
lers in  Birmingham.  Went  to  London,  1737,  for 
literary  work.  A  parliamentary  reporter,  1740.  On 
a  pension,  1762.  Visited  Scotland,  1773.  Died,  Dec 
13th,  1784. 

His  Prose  Writings. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  mention  in  detail  the  vari- 
ous works  of  this  illustrious  author.  In  aiming  to 
reach  a  true  analysis  and  theory  of  his  style,  the 
most  noted  of  these  are  sufficient,  as  follows: 

Periodical — The  Rambler,  and  The  Idler.  The  Ro- 
mance— Rasselas  (Prince  of  Abyssinia).  The  Lives  of 
The  English  Poets. 

His  work  as  a  writer  of  political  pamphlets,  as  a 
lexicographer  and  as  an  editor  and  commentator  of 
Shakespeare  will  not  be  overlooked,  as  they  evince 
certain  qualities  which  enter  vitally  into  the  struc- 
ture of  his  style.  In  the  few  productions  mentioned 
it  will  be  noted  that  with  the  exception  of  oratorical 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— JOHNSON.      311 

prose  we  find  illustrated  all  the  forms  of  prose  to 
which  attention  has  been  called — narrative,  descrip- 
tive, philosophic  and  miscellaneous.  Though  he  was 
not  as  voluminous  an  author  as  some  it  is  difficult  to 
see  the  justness  of  Mr.  Stephen's  statement,  "Few 
men  whose  lives  have  been  devoted  to  letters  for  an 
equal  period  have  left  behind  them  such  scanty  and 
inadequate  remains."  Few,  we  may  add,  have  left  so 
strong  an  impression  upon  their  age. 

EXAMINATION  OF  HIS  STYLE. 

(1.)  Its  Anglo-Latin  Element. 

This  is  one  of  the  first  features  that  impress  the 
reader  as  he  studies  this  prose  structure  and  diction 
and  it  becomes  more  manifest  as  the  perusal  goes  on. 
With  many,  it  occasions  prejudice  at  the  outset  and 
prevents  any  continuous  and  impartial  examination 
of  the  author.  Most  men  are  too  definite  in  purpose 
to  read  the  Rambler  and  too  busy  to  read  the  Idler. 
There  is  a  widespread  antipathy  by  way  of  presump- 
tion against  the  Johnsonian  Style  in  this  regard  so 
that  many  even  among  the  educated  must  confess  to 
an  utter  ignorance  of  the  pages  that  they  pronounce, 
Latinized.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  author's  biographers 
and  critics  have  avoided  extreme  positions  here.  If 
Boswell  is  too  flattering,  Hawkins  is  too  critical.  If 
Macaulay  errs  on  one  side,  Taine  errs  on  the  other. 
Drake  and  Ilallam  come  nearest  to  a  just  estimate. 

His  diction  is  beyond  question  a  mixed  one.  The 
foreign  element  is  prominent  enough  to  call  attention 
to  it  as  foreign  and  thus  to  detract  from  its   native 


312  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

simplicity  as  seen  in  Swift  and  Addison.  The 
student  of  English  must,  thus,  be  cautioned  against 
an  excessive  deference  to  Dr.  Johnson's  phraseology 
lest  he  go  even  to  greater  lengths  than  his  model  and 
end  in  the  veriest  pedantry.  The  diction  of  the 
Rambler  is  a  distinctively  classical  diction.  It  is 
English  in  Latin  dress.  In  his  antipathy  to  the 
French  he  favored  the  Latin  unduly.  In  his  excel- 
lent preface  to  his  English  Dictionary  he  thus  states 
— "that  our  language  for,  about  a  century  has  been 
deviating  toward  a  Gallic  structure  and  phraseology 
from  which  it  ought  to  be  our  endeavor  to  recall  it." 
lie  abhorred  all  Gallicism,  but  in  deference  to  the  in- 
fluence of  such  authors  as  Sir  Thomas  Browne  and  by 
reason  of  his  personal  classical  attainments,  he  gave 
undue  weight  to  the  idioms  of  Rome.  It  is  thus  that 
we  have  such  terms  as — obstreperous,  ratiocination 
and  adumbrate — in  great  profusion.  In  his  effort  to 
state  to  his  readers  that  practical  lessons  are  to  be 
learned  only  in  the  school  of  life  he  says — "  Exper- 
ience soon  shows  us  the  tortuosities  of  imaginary 
rectitude,  the  complications  of  simplicity  and  the  as- 
perities of  smoothness."  He  wishes  to  give  a  clear 
description  of  the  different  processes  through  which 
the  ladies  at  their  toilets  pass  and  he  writes — "  They 
puss  through  the  cosmetic  discipline  covered  with 
emollients  and  painted  with  artificial  excoreations." 
Such  constructions  might  be  greatly  multiplied.  It 
was,  probably,  amid  such  literary  thickets  that  Mr. 
Taine  found  himself  when  he  said — "  We  turn  over 
the  pages  of  his  Dictionary,  his  eight  volumes  of 
essays,  his  ten  volumes  of  biographies,  his  numberless 
articles  and  we  yawn" 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS— JOHNSON.      313 

In  this  respect  Johnson  failed  just  where  Bunyan 
and  Swift  excelled  and  to  this  degree  made  it  impos- 
sible to  secure  for  his  writings  the  popular  eye.  This 
being  admitted,  there  are  certain  modifications  that 
deserve  mention  and  go  far  to  admit  us  to  the  real 
nature  of  the  Johnsonian  style. 

(a)  This  Lat.inic  element  is  not  offensively  present 
in  all  of  his  writings.  Most  of  the  extreme  criticisms 
offered  have  been  based  upon  a  study  of  The  Ram- 
bler. Up  to  this  point,  the  criticism  is  just.  These 
essays  probably  contain  as  much  of  this  foreign  caste 
as  all  his  other  works  combined.  The  author's  style 
simplified  somewhat  as  it  went  on.  He  made  the 
study  of  phraseology  more  a  matter  of  literary  care 
and  conscience  so  that  the  difference  between  The 
Rambler  and  the  later  works  is  noticeable.  Johnson 
seemed  to  be  aware  of  his  own  defect  and  anxious  to 
amend  it.  He  admits  that  he  is  inclined  to  "  use  too 
big  words  and  too  many  of  them."  He  says  to  Bos- 
well  concerning  The  Rambler  "that  it  is  too  wordy." 
In  The  Adventurer  and  The  Idler  there  is  more  direct 
statement.  In  Rasselas,  much  of  the  crude  and  burlv 
style  of  the  earlier  writings  gives  place  to  a  genuine 
pathos  while  in,  The  Lives  of  the  Poets  there  is  a 
quality  of  diction  and  an  order  of  structure  that  may 
well  be  compared  to  that  of  any  preceding  writer. 

(b)  The  state  of  Intelligence  somewhat  warranted 
a  more  studied  style.  Nearly  forty  years  had  passed 
since  the  completion  of  the  last  volume  of  The  Spec- 
tator and  we  find  in  Johnson's  time  a  generation  of 
people  trained  in  Addisonian  days.  The  mental 
status  of  the  masses  at  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth 
century   was  one   thing  and   in   the  latter  half,  quite 


314  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

another.  What  might  have  been  justifiable  in  John- 
eon  would  not  have  been  so  in  Addison.  This  is,  in 
fact,  what  Mr.  Stephen  means  when  he  says,  "  John- 
son's style  is  characteristic  of  the  epoch.  Attempts 
are  made  to  restore  philosophical  conceptions  and 
though  Addison  is  still  a  kind  of  sacred  model,  the 
best  prose  writers  are  beginning  to  aim  at  a  more 
complex  structure  of  sentence.  Accordingly,  John- 
son's style  acquired  something  of  the  old  elaboration." 
This  is  all  true  and  in  point.  In  addition  to  change  of 
literary  type,  there  was  a  radical  change  in  social 
modes  and  activities;  in  the  mechanical  and  practical, 
in  the  spirit  of  the  age  so  that  we  are  not  to  be  sup- 
posed as  we  open  the  Rambler  to  find  the  innocent 
simplicity  of  Addison  give  way  to  a  more  cogent  and 
aggressive  style. 

(c)  Such  a  phraseology  as  Johnson  used  was  fully 
in  keeping  with  his  character  and  'personal  habit.  No 
style  in  English  Prose  has  been  more  decidedly  the 
expression  of  the  author  behind  it.  In  all  his  actions 
and  ways  he  was  precisely  what  Garrick  meant  when 
he  called  him  "a  tremendous  companion."  His  tre- 
mendousness  was  a  vital  part  of  his  nature.  What- 
ever Dr.  Johnson  was  or  was  not,  he  was  always  him- 
self. Though  it  might  have  been  a  misfortune  that 
he  was  not  more  simple  in  style,  it  was  less  unfor- 
tunate than  the  result  would  have  been  had  he  at- 
tempted to  be  so  unnatural  as  to  be  as  simple  as 
Addison.  Nature  made  him  on  a  very  large  pattern. 
All  that  he  was  and  did  was  large.  When  he  began 
to  write,  the  words  were  as  a  matter  of  course,  "big, 
swelling  words  "  of  the  same  portly  make  as  their 
author.      Eiis  literary  work  reflected  his  mental  and 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS —JOHNSON.      315 

even  physical  self  and  fhis  consistency  went  far  to 
atone  for  the  "  tremendousness  "  of  the  diction. 

{d)  His  Theory  as  to  Diction  ivas  correct. 

In  addition  to  these  considerations  just  stated  it 
must  be  urged  that  Johnson's  theory  of  diction  was  a 
very  high  one  and  he  aimed  to  realize  it.  He  never 
omits  the  opportunity  of  praising  simplicity  of  style 
in  others;  calls  attention  to  it  in  literature  and  de- 
votes some  of  his  papers  to  its  discussion.  In  the 
85th,  115th  and  138th  numbers  of  the  Adventurer, 
after  taking  his  text  from  Lord  Bacon's  essay  on  read- 
ing, he  gives  his  views  on  various  literary  topics  and 
dwells  with  special  emphasis  upon  the  subject  of  Dic- 
tion as  founded  on  the  purest  prose  models.  In  num- 
ber 70  of  the  Idler,  the  author  gives  all  that  could  be 
desired  on  the  subject  of  phraseology  and  general 
style.  He  tells  us  "that  to  find  the  nearest  way  from 
truth  to  truth  is  the  best  proof  of  a  healthful  mind.'" 
He  states  "that  if  an  author  writes  to  be  admired 
rather  than  understood  he  counteracts  the  first  end 
of  writing."  He  avows  to  Boswell,  that  he  conscien- 
tiously opposed  the  use  of  uncommon  terms  and  had 
really  introduced  into  the  language  but  four  or  five 
new  words.  In  the  last  paper  of  The  Rambler,  he 
speaks  of  his  arduous  efforts  to  refine  the  language. 
In  justification  of  his  use  of  unusual  terms  he  says, 
"When  common  words  were  less  pleasing  to  the  ear 
or  less  distinct  I  have  familiarized  terms  of  philoso- 
phy applying  them  to  popular  ideas,  but  have  rarely 
admitted  any  word  not  authorized  by  former  writers." 
Among  the  statements  made  in  the  Preface  to  his 
Dictionary,  he  indicates  the  true  relation  of  native  to 
foreign  words  as  he  says,   "  I   believe    that  whoever 


316  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

knows  the  English  tongue  in  its  present  extent  will 
be  able  to  express  his  thoughts  without  further  help 
from  other  nations."  Even  in  the  pages  of  Rasselas 
verbal  vagueness  is  condemned  while  in  number  36* 
of  The  Idler  we  find  a  satire  on  obscurity  of  style 
under  the  title  of — Terrific  Diction.  Some  extracts 
from  this  paper  will  be  of  interest. — 

"There  are  men,"  he  says,  "  who  seem  to  think  no- 
thing so  much  the  characteristic  of  a  genius  as  to  do 
common  things  in  an  uncommon  manner — like  Hudi- 
bras,  to  tell  the  clock  by  Algebra  or  like  the  young 
lady  in  Dr.  Young's  satires,  to  drink  tea  by  strata- 
gem, in  fine,  to  quit  the  beaten  track  only  because  it 
is  known."  He  calls  it  "  the  bug-bear  style  by  which 
the  most  evident  truths  are  made  obscure,  causing 
the  author  to  pass  among  his  readers  as  the  disguised 
dancer  in  the  masquerade."  A  mother  tells  her  chil- 
dren, that  two  and  two  make  four.  The  children 
remember  and  apply  it  in  life.  When  they  are  fur- 
ther told  "  that  four  is  a  certain  aggregate  of  units, 
that  all  numbers  being  only  the  repetition  of  a  unit 
which  though  not  a  number  itself  is  the  original  of 
all  numbers,"  the  children  either  run  away  in  fright 
or  remain  to  learn  once  again  that  two  and  two  make 
four.  These  references  might  be  increased  to  show 
clearly  that  Dr.  Johnson's  general  theory  of  style, 
and,  especially,  of  diction  was  as  high  as  can  be  held 
and  that  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  he  verified  it.  We  can 
scarcely  believe  the  theory  to  be  that  of  the  Johnson 
of  Boswell's  biography,  but  so  it  is.  He  is  the  last 
one  from  whom  we  expect  discussions  on  vagueness 
and  ambiguity  of  phrase. 

Macaulay  in  his  trenchant  review  of  Boswell's  Life 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— JOHNSON.      317 

of  Johnson  writes — "  It  is  well  known  that  he  made 
less  use  than  any  other  eminent  writer  of  those 
strong-,  plain  words — Anglo-Saxon  or  Norman-French 
— of  which  the  roots  lie  in  the  inmost  depths  of  our 
language;  that  he  felt  a  vicious  partiality  for  terms, 
which,  long  after  our  own  speech  had  been  fixed, 
were  borrowed  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  and  which, 
therefore,  even  when  lawfully  naturalized,  must  be 
considered  as  born  aliens,  not  entitled  to  rank  with 
the  King's  English." 

This  is  a  just  criticism  upon  the  author's  diction. 
His  diction  was  Latinic,  though  less  and  less  as  his 
style  advanced.  It  was  in  keeping,  as  such,  with 
the  man  and  the  age  and  quite  opposed  to  that 
theory  of  simplicity  which  he  was  ever  urging,  but 
which  he  could  not  possibly  illustrate  as  he  wished. 
There  are  some  things  that  elephants  cannot  do. 
They  cannot  tread  softly  or  walk  upon  the  points  of 
pins. 

(2.)  The  Want  of  Flexibility  and  Adaptation. 

This  applies  to  subject  matter  as  well  as  to  method 
and  external  form. 

We  know  from  his  conversations  with  Boswell  that 
he  had  seen  much  of  the  world  of  his  day  and  had  as 
he  thought,  no  slight  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
still  his  observation  and  experience  were  but  partial. 
A  close  examination  of  his  life  will  reveal  the  fact 
that,  after  all,  it  was  confined  to  the  garret,  tavern 
and  club.  These  served  the  purpose  of  a  studio,  par- 
lor and  kitchen.  'Tis  true  that  he  made  a  journey 
to  the  Hebrides  and  to  the  Continent;  that  he  was 


318  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

much  in  the  streets  of  London  and  in  the  homes  of 
the  great,  still  the  most  of  his  life  was  passed  just  be- 
neath the  rafters  or  in  the  back  rooms  of  the  Essex 
or  Turk's  Head.     "  Nobody,"  says  Macaulay,  "  was  so 
conversant  with  all  the  forms  of  life  as  seen  from  Is- 
lington to  the  Thames  and  from  Hyde-Park  corner  to 
Mile-end    Green,   but  his  philosophy  stopped   at  the 
first  turnpike-gate.      He  had  studied,  not  the  genus 
man,  but  the  species,  Londoner."     It  is  to  be  empha- 
sized here  that  his  extreme  poverty  and  strong  ten- 
dencies to  melancholy  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 
attain  to  anything  like  a  spacious  and  healthful  view 
of  life.     The  limits  of  his  life  were  too  narrow  to  ad- 
mit of  much   diversity.      His    style  was   affected  by 
these  circumstances  and  especially  in  the  line  of  want 
of  adaptiveness  to  all  classes  and  phases.     His  method 
was  rigid  and  mechanical  and  the  same  to  all.     He 
would  talk  to  Goldsmith  and  Savage  and  the  artisan 
in  the  same  manner.     Whatever  the  topic  might  be, 
the  treatment    of  it  was   the  same.     The  narrative, 
descriptive,  didactic  and  critical  were  all  run  in  the 
same    mold    and    branded    with    the    common  mark. 
They  are  all  in  the  phrase  of  Macaulay,  "  Johnsonese." 
His  prose  style,  as  his  body,  was  very  much  opposed 
to  change.     Starting  in  one  direction  and  at  a  certain 
pace  he  maintained  it  to  the  end.      In  all  this  he  was 
true  to  his  nationality.     In  that  he  was  lethargic,  he 
was  English.     The  phlegmatic  element  in  him   was 
native  to  the  realm.     The  Gallic  verve  and  sprightli- 
ness  was  as  foreign  to  him  as  it  was  to  his  country. 
He    was    constitutionally   and    mentally    heavy   and 
could  not  face  about  at  will.     There  are  few  scenes  in 
literary  history  so  amusing  as  when  this  ponderous 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— JOHNSON.      319 

man  attempts  to  be  playful  and  unbend  himself  to 
passing  changes.  While  he  is  unbending,  the  oppor- 
tunity passes.  Here,  as  in  the  case  of  diction,  natur- 
alness covers  many  sins.  The  very  uniformity  of  his 
prose  is  natural.  It  is  a  fault  and  yet  modified  by  the 
fact  that  it  is  purely  individual  and  characteristic. 

It  is  very  common  for  literary  historians  to  com- 
pare   and    contrast    Johnson    and    Addison.       With 
reference  to  the  quality  now  before  us  they  were  op- 
posites.     Johnson's  defect  is    Addison's    merit.     Va- 
riety was  the  spice  of  the  early  Augustan  prose.      It 
was  adaptive  to  all  forms  of  popular  life  and  all  grades 
of  culture.      It  had,  as  we  have  seen,  an  intelligibly 
word  for  everyone  and  just  in  season.      It  was  every- 
thing but  monotonous.     It  is  very  instructive  to  note 
how  often  Johnson  himself  refers  to  such  a  feature 
by  way  of  praise  and  as   contrasted  with  his    own 
unyielding  style.     He  writes — "  Among  the  various 
censures  which  the  unavoidable   comparison   of  my 
performances  with  those  of  my  predecessors  has  pro- 
duced, there  is  none  more  general  than  that  of  uni- 
formity."    In  number  ten  of  the  Rambler,  he  alludes 
to  the  same  censure  and  is  candid  enough  to  state 
the  views  of  others  on  this  point.     One  of  the  letters 
written  by  a  lady  on  behalf  of  her  sex  takes  up  the 
old  objection  and  says — "  that  the  readers  of  the  Ram- 
bler cannot  help  a  wish,  that  he  would,  now  and  then, 
like  his  predecessors,  throw  in  some  papers  of  a  gay 
and  humorous  turn."     Another  lady  far  more  sharply 
desires  to  know  who  his  friends  are,  what  his  amuse- 
ments and  ways  are  and  whether  he  is  a  person  now 
alive.     If  he  is  a  mere  essayist,  and  bothers  not  him- 
self with  the  manners  of  the  age,  she  tells  him,  that 


320  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

even  the  criticisms  of  an  Addison  will  not  save  him 
from  neglect.  Lady  Racket  "  hopes  to  see  the  Ram- 
bler interspersed  with  living  characters."  The  com- 
pliment and  censure  thus  go  on.  The  author  accepts 
each  in  good  spirit  and  in  the  way  of  pleasant  irony 
enters  into  correspondence  with  his  critics.  The 
result  is,  that  he  confesses  his  lack  of  adaptation  and 
says  "that  a  daily  writer  ought  to  view  the  world." 
In  partial  palliation  of  this  uniformity  of  topic  and 
method,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  he  was,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  the  only  contributor  to  his  periodicals. 
He  had  no  colleagues  as  Addison  and  Steele  had. 
This  fact  in  connection  with  his  multiplied  duties  and 
his  didactic  work  as  a  lexicographer  made  it  difficult 
for  him  to  be  varied  and  versatile.  This  apart,  how- 
ever, the  style  is  lacking  in  diversity  and  is  dull 
up  to  the  borders  of  moi-oseness.  For  this  and 
other  reasons,  it  is  not  surprising  to  hear  the  author 
state  "that  the  number  of  his  friends  was  not  great 
and  that  he  had  never  been  worshipped  by  the  pub- 
lic." Masculine  thought  presented  in  foreign  idiom 
and  unvarying  sameness  of  form  will  have  but  few 
readers  in  any  age.  In  the  early  Georgian  Era,  such 
a  style  was  intolerable  and  yet  this  sober  minded 
author  is  not  altogether  sorry  that  he  had  failed  to 
please  all  classes.  In  his  closing  Rambler  he  writes 
— "  I  have  never  complied  with  temporary  curiosity. 
I  have  seen  the  meteors  of  fashion  rise  and  fall  with- 
out any  attempt  to  add  a  moment  to  their  dm-ation. 
They  were  only  expected  to  pursue  them  whose  pas- 
sions left  them  leisure  for  abstract  truth  and  whom 
virtue  could  please  by  its  marked  dignity." 

In  fine,  Johnson  was  never  designed  to  be  a  sue- 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— JOHNSON.      321 

cessful  periodical  essayist.  He  had  a  better  field  in 
biography,  lexicography  and  general  criticism.  He 
was  far  more  than  a  miscellaneous  essayist  and  in 
this  respect  was  the  superior  of  Addison.  Such 
critics  as  De  Quincey  are  led  to  speak  in  high  terms 
of  Johnson's  styLe  not  so  much  on  the  basis  of  his 
periodical  work  as  on  that  of  his  entire  work  as  au 
author  and  commentator. 

(3.)  Absence  of  Impassioned  Energy. 

This  is  a  failure  common  to  periodical  writing. 
The  want  of  consecutive  discussion  in  such  an  order 
of  prose  is  a  partial  explanation  of  this.  The  topics 
are  too  varied  and  the  limits  too  narrow  for  the 
generation  of  passion.  Miscellaneous  and  oratorical 
prose  exclude  each  other.  In  no  English  essayist 
after  Milton  and  up  to  the  time  of  the  author  is  this 
emotive  element  at  all  prominent.  If  we  examine 
the  long  list  of  periodicals  issued  between  the  time 
of  the  Tatier,  in  1709  and  that  of  the  Spy,  in  1800, 
the  vast  majority  are  penned  either  in  deference  to 
the  frivolities  of  the  day  or  made  up  of  the  common 
platitudes  on  morality  and  social  order.  There  is 
anything  but  unction  and  persuasive  feeling.  Mr. 
Taine's  criticisms  upon  Addison  and  the  Augustan 
essayists  as  to  this  defect  are  in  place.  In  Johnson, 
the  defect  is  even  more  pronounced.  As  we  peruse 
his  pages,  we  seek  nothing  so  much  and  so  vainly  as 
the  presence  of  deep  and  expressive  emotion.  We 
read  conscientiously  rather  than  sympathetically. 
There  is  nothing  magnetic  and  inspiring;  nothing  to 
elicit   fervid   fueling   or  high    resolve.      It    does    not 


322  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

absorb  us  as  we  read.  It  is  didactic  to  a  fault  so  that 
we  are  taught  by  way  of  penance  and  are  not  sorry 
when  school  is  dismissed.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
the  pedagogue  in  this  and  we,  at  times,  are  inclined 
to  revolt.  This  element  was  undoubtedly  deepened 
by  his  natural  seriousness  of  mind  often  tinged  with 
melancholy.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  inherited  de- 
spondency, his  large  nature  might  have  been  health- 
fully tender  and  his  style,  impassioned.  In  his  best 
hours  he  was  not  devoid  of  susceptibility  and  inca- 
pable of  feeling.  His  profound  sympathy  for  the 
poor;  his  affection  for  his  chosen  friends  and  his 
indignation  against  what  he  felt  to  be  wrong,  reveal 
a  sensitive  nature.  In  his  most  mature  life,  this  is 
not  altogether  absent,  still,  the  bent  was  toward  the 
sombre  and  despondent.  He  rarely  rises  in  his  style 
to  anything  like  an  emotive  climax.  There  is  noth- 
ing of  the  projective  force  of  the  orator  or  of  the 
writer  who  at  all  hazards  must  impress  the  truth. 
He  declares  the  truth  but  does  not  deliver  it.  He 
deems  it  to  be  sufficient  to  instruct,  Others  must 
inspirit,  In  all  this,  Johnson  was  himself  again  and 
did  a  work  committed  to  him.  His  successes  and  his 
failures  were  his  own. 

As  to  the  defects  of  style,  thus  mentioned,  it  is  to 
be  noted,  that  they  are  confined  to  his  written  thought. 
All  his  biographers  from  Boswell  to  Stephen  have 
marked  the  vital  difference  in  Johnson  the  writer 
and  Johnson,  the  talker.  "When  he  talked,"  says 
Macaulay,  "  he  clothed  his  wit  and  his  sense  in  forci- 
ble and  natural  expressions.  As  soon  as  he  took  his 
pen  in  hand,  his  style  became  systematically  vicious. 
The  expressions  which  came  first  to  his  tongue  were 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — JOHNSON.      323 

simple,  energetic  and  picturesque.  When  he  wrote 
for  publication,  he  did  his  sentences  out  of  English 
into  .Johnsonese."  "  There  are  times,"  says  Stephen, 
"at  which  his  writing  takes  the  true,  vigorous  tone 
of  his  talk."  There  is  no  author  in  English  prose  in 
whom  this  difference  as  to  written  and  spoken  dis- 
course is  so  marked.  In  conversation,  his  diction  was 
pungent  and  idiomatic;  bis  method  ever  varied  and 
his  manner  marked  by  personal  force  and  feeling. 
In  that  sphere  he  excelled  just  where  in  authorship 
he  failed  and  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  was  equally 
natural  in  each  role.  We  can  scarcely  conceive  of 
him  talking  as  he  wrote  or  writing  as  he  talked.  He 
had  a  kind  of  dual  personality.  One  was  for  the 
coffee-house  and  street;  the  other  was  for  the  desk. 
Boswell  gives  us  more  of  the  former  than  of  the  latter, 
and  for  this  reason  is  readable.  It  still  remains  for 
some  psychological  critic  to  co-ordinate  these  two 
personalities  or  to  show  why  the  one  did  not  more 
fully  influence  the  other. 

In  the  discussion  of  Johnson's  style  as  to  defects 
it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  of — Literary 
Grace.  The  absence  of  such  a  quality  is  but  the 
natural  result  of  those  defects  already  suggested.  It 
is  thus,  that  the  figurative  element  is  not  marked. 

It  remains  to  state  the  merits  of  his  prose  style. 

(1.)  Substantial  Clearness. 

Despite  his  Latinic  diction,  want  of  variety  and 
passion,  Johnson's  meaning  is  genei'ally  intelligible. 
Dr.  Drake  in  his  lectures  on — The  Rambler,  calls 
special  attention  to  this  feature  and  remarks:  "  Pre- 


324  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

cision  in  the  adoption  and  use  of  terms  is  peculiarly 
the   characteristic   of  Johnson's   composition."     This 
may  be  extreme  and,  yet,  attention  should  be  called 
to  the  important  fact  that  clearness  in  writers  is  a 
relative  quality  depending;  on  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
ject and  the  type    of  mind  in    author   and    reader. 
There  is  the  clearness  of  brevity  and,  also,  of  circum- 
locution.    The  former  Johnson  does  not  possess;  the 
latter,  he  does.     If  judged  by  the  highest  historical 
examples  of  clear  writing,  he  is  seen  to  fall  short  of 
the  standard.     Still,  he  can  be  thoroughly  understood 
by  the  careful    reader.      If  we   follow    him,    he  will 
bring  us  safely  to  the  end  but  by  a  somewhat  indirect 
route.      The    Rambler   failed    to  receive   the  popular 
favor  which  had    been    given    to  the  Spectator,  not 
because  the  people  could  not  understand  it,   but  in 
that    it    demanded   more    time    and    patience    than 
other  periodicals.     It  was  not  so  clear  on  the  face  of 
it  as  that  the  idea  could  be  snatched  easily  between 
dinner  and  dessert,  but  it  was  clear.     Many  of  the 
author's  essays  that  contain  the  longest  words  and 
sentences  and  the  most  complex  structure  and  give 
the    impression    of  hopeless    obscurity  are  perfectly 
intelligible  upon  due  attention.     The  use  of  the  bal- 
anced order  of  sentence  to  which  he  was  so  inclined 
aided  rather  than  impaired  the  general  plainness  of 
the  style.     He  is  not  a  lucid  writer  in  the  sense  in 
which  Bacon,  Swift  and  Addison  are  lucid,  neither  is 
he  so  conspicuously  clear  as  to  make  him  a  model  for 
the    student    of  style.       We    simply    affirm  that  the 
common  view  as  to  the  vagueness  and  ambiguity  of 
his  writing  is  incorrect   and  that   in    a   true   sense, 
though  not    in    the    highest   he   is    comprehensible. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— JOHNSON.      325 

Though  he  spoke  in  terms  of  praise  of  the  style  of 
Browne  and  Burton,  his  own  methods  of  expression 
were  vastly  superior  to  their's  in  ease  of  intelligibility. 
In  some  of  his  later  authorship,  most  especially  in — 
The  Lives  of  The  Poets — he  may  be  said  to  compare 
favorably  with,  such  writers  as  Addison  and  Burke  as 
to  perspicuity. 

"  With  all  its  faults,"  says  a  biographer,  "his  style 
has  the  merit  of  masculine  directness.  As  Boswell 
remarks,  he  never  uses  a  parenthesis.  The  inversions 
are  not  such  as  to  complicate  the  construction,  and 
his  style,  though  ponderous  and  wearisome,  is  as 
transparent  as  the  smarter  snip-snap  of  Macaulay."' 

(2.)  Literary  Gravity. 

The  reference  here  is  not  to  that  excessive  serious- 
ness of  manner  which  often  ended  in  confirmed 
melancholy  but  to  that  sober  habit  of  mind  and  ex- 
pression which  was  based  on  his  view  of  the  writer's 
vocation.  All  that  he  did  had  a  kind  of  natural  sol- 
idity about  it.  There  was  nothing  trivial  or  puerile 
in  it  all.  He  has  a  more  than  ordinary  sense  of  the 
dignity  of  authorship  and  addresses  himself  to  his 
work  in  Baconian  spirit  "To  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  relief  of  man's  estate."  In  this  respect  he  re- 
minds us  strongly  of  the  "Judicious"  Hooker,  and 
of  Milton.  He  was  pre-inclined  to  the  reflective  and 
serious  and  wrote  as  he  felt.  We  shall,  therefore, 
look  in  vain,  in  his  writings  for  the  unmerciful  satire 
of  a  Swift  or  even  the  more  harmless  pleasantness  of 
a  Steele  and  Hawkesworth.  There  is  no  vicious 
abuse  of  personal  or  literary  character,  no  serio-comic 


326  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

burlesque  for  the  sake  of  burlesque.  Even  in  the 
unguarded  conferences  of  the  club  and  social  re- 
unions, he  rarely  indulged  in  literary  levity  up  to  the 
degree  in  which  it  was  regarded  as  admissible.  His 
mind  was  masculine  and  earnest  and  he  was  not 
inclined  to  stoop  so  far  from  that  level  as  to  be  the 
favorite  of  the  many.  If  he  must  choose  between 
being  a  tedious  author  because  so  grave  in  method 
and  an  entertaining  author  by  catering  to  the  whims 
of  the  populace,  he  makes  the  choice  at  once  in  favor 
of  the  former.  In  the  closing  number  of  the  Ram- 
bler he  writes,  "  I  have  seldom  descended  to  the  arts 
by   which  popular  favor  is  obtained." 

Fearing  lest,  at  times,  he  might  be  carried  beyond 
legitimate  limits,  he  adds — "  As  it  has  been  my  prin- 
cipal design  to  inculcate  wisdom  and  piety,  I  have 
allotted  few  papers  to  the  idle  sports  of  imagination." 
As  literary  criticism  so  often  passes  beyond  the 
province  of  decorous  reproof  into  personal  abuse,  he 
places  it  among  the  subordinate  or  instrumental  arts. 
He  tells  us  that  he  has  carefully  avoided  all  arbitrary 
decisions  as  to  men  and  authors  asserting  nothing 
without  a  good  reason.  Even  as  to  the  use  of  figure, 
he  affirms  that  he  has  never  been  so  studious  of  nov- 
elty as  wholly  to  depart  from  all  resemblance.  Mere 
declamation  and  hyperbole  are  an  abomination  to 
him  in  that  they  depart  from  the  reality  of  things. 
He  was  thus  well  aware  that  his  writings  were  not 
popular  and  could  not  become  so  by  reason  of  their 
gravity  of  style  and  didactic  method. 

"  Scarcely  any  man  is  so  steadily  serious,"  he  says, 
"as  not  to  complain  that  the  severity  of  didactical 
instruction  has  been  too  seldom  relieved  and  that  he 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— JOHNSON.      327 

is  driven  by  the  sternness  of  the  Rambler's  philoso- 
phy to  the  more  cheerful  and  airy  companions." 

He  saw  all  this  and  yet  adhered  to  his  method. 
Despite  his  sobriety  no  one  wishes  that  he  had  done 
otherwise.  There  is  a  moral  attractiveness  in  the 
manner  in  which  he  moves  massively  on  quite  un- 
affected by  current  criticism.  When  all  others  were 
anxious  to  catch  the  ear  of  the  time,  he  was  content 
to  carry  out  his  own  methods.  Hence,  instead  of 
essays  on,  Fops  and  Fans,  there  are  essays  on,  Pru- 
dence, Self-Denial  and  Habit,  History,  Friendship, 
The  Art  of  Thinking  and  The  Struggles  of  Life.  He 
carries  us  out  of  the  region  of  parlors  and  etiquette 
and  social  fashion  into  the  higher  realm  of  ethical 
teaching.  There  is  a  body  to  the  instruction.  The 
food  is  nutritious  rather  than  merely  palatable.  The 
aesthetic  gives  way  to  the  useful.  One  can  reckon 
the  specific  gravity  of  Johnson's  style.  It  has  been 
called  ponderous  in  the  sense  of  being  heavy.  It  is, 
also,  such  in  the  sense  of  being  weighty.  With  all 
its  defects,  it  is  immeasurably  better  then  the  sen- 
suous stvle  of  the  Restoration  or  the  chiseled  cor- 
rectness  of  the  days  of  Pope.  Its  richness  in  mental 
instruction  and  the  lofty  seriousness  of  its  method  do 
much  to  atone  for  its  errors.  Had  the  gifted  Vol- 
taire been  the  sober-minded  Johnson,  common  sense 
would  have  held  the  place  of  flippant  wit  and  the  lit- 
erature of  Fiance  in  the  eighteenth  century  been  sig- 
nally improved.  Even  Germany  has  urgent  need  of 
such  authors.  Every  literature  needs  such  bulwarks 
and  barriers  to  arrest  the  tendencies  to  national  de- 
cline. It  is  to  the  praise  of  English  Letters  that  this 
ethical  gravity  is  an  historic  part  of  it  from  first  to  last. 


328  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

There  are  one  or  two  features  in  the  style  of  John- 
son so  closely  related  to  this  one  of  gravity  that  they 
need  mention  here — 

(a)  This  element,  at  times,  showed  itself  in  the  ex- 
treme form  of  rudeness  bordering  on  severity.  Mrs. 
Boswell  spoke  of  him  to  her  husband  as  a  "bear''  in 
his  manners.  Now  and  then,  his  style  had  this  bear- 
ish quality.  There  is  a  brusque  and  harsh  tone  about 
it  that  grates  upon  the  ear.  The  Sage  of  Lichfield 
had  a  good  deal  of  the  animal  in  his  nature  and  it 
often  ruled  the  other  elements.  When  thus  exercised 
he  would  indulge  in  the  most  cruel  invective  and 
spare  no  feelings  whatsoever.  This  however,  was 
not  the  man  at  his  best  and  in  the  true  interpretation 
of  his  style,  the  student  is  to  look  beneath  all  this 
to  the  essential  good-nature  and  moral  gravity  of  the 
author. 

(/>)  By  way  of  strange  contrast  to  this  quality  his 
style  is  not  infrequently  marked  by  the  most  playful 
humor.  Boswell's  biography  is  full  of  these  outbursts 
of  pleasantry  when  by  way  of  reaction  from  the  in- 
herent sobriety  of  his  nature  he  would  indulge  in 
sallies  of  wit  and  repartee.  There  is  just  enough  of 
this  in  his  prose  to  give  it  flavor  and  attractiveness, 
and  to  redeem  the  style  from  excessive  seriousness. 
In,  The  Lives  of  the  Poets,  this  order  of  style  is  well 
presented. 

(3.)  Johnsonianism. 

The  style  of  Johnson  is  eminently  individual.  It 
is  his  own.  His  full-sized  portrait  is  on  every  page. 
lie  is  as  clearly  distinct  among  English  Prose  Writers 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— JOHNSON.      3l59 

as  is  Peter  among  the  apostles.  Fie  is  self-revealing 
in  every  word  and  phrase.  No  style  preceding  his 
can  be  called  as  unique  as  his.  Among  his  succes- 
sors, Thomas  Carlyle  approaches  him  most  closely  in 
the  element  of  literary  personality.  He  thought  as 
he  pleased,  said  what  he  thought,  said  it  as  it  seemed 
best  to  him  to  say  it  and  consulted  no  one.  During 
the  forty  years  between — The  Spectator  and  The 
Rambler,  nearly  all  of  the  one  hundred  periodicals 
that  arose  were  imitative  of  what  had  preceded. 
The  Rambler  appeared  in  1730  on  its  own  merits,  mark- 
ing a  decided  departure  from  all  existing  standards 
and  introducing  a  new  era  in  English  Prose.  Good 
or  bad,  it  was  natural.  "  He  never  seems,"  says 
Leslie  Stephen,  "  to  have  directly  imitated  any  one," 
and  adds  "  Some  nonsense  has  been  talked  about  his 
forming  a  style."  This  is  not  altogether  "nonsense." 
The  Johnsonian  style  was  a  new  order  of  expression 
as  compared  with  anything  in  the  Augustan  Age. 
It  was  new  not  simply  because  it  was  Johnson's 
but  because  Johnson  was  so  peculiarly  a  man  by 
himself. 

As  suggested,  we  are  reminded  more  of  Hooker 
than  of  any  preceding  author.  In  fact,  Johnson  was 
far  more  Elizabethan  than  Augustan. 

He  may,  in  a  true  sense,  be  said  to  have  founded  a 
school.  As  in  his  own  day,  he  was  an  acknowledged 
leader,  so  later  on  he  gave  direction  to  literary  form. 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  in  referring  to  his  own  Acad- 
emical Discourses,  remarks — "  Whatever  merit  thev 
have  must  be  imputed  in  a  great  measui'e  to  the 
education  I  may  be  said  to  have  had  under  Dr.  John- 
eon.     No  man  had  like  him  the  faculty  of  teaching 


330  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

minds  the  art  of  thinking."     This  language  is  sim- 
ply a  ratification  of  Johnson's  personal  power  over 
men.     Over  Goldsmith  and  others  he  had  a  marvel- 
ous influence,  nor  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  the  his- 
torians and  essayists  of  the  latter  part  of  the  Georgian 
era  were  more  Johnsonian  in  general  style  than  they 
were  anything  else.     They  improved  vastly  upon  their 
model  but  still  they  had  a  model,  in  the  person  of 
Boswell's  hero.     To  this  day,  that  style  is  among  us. 
A  further  confirmation    of  this    individual  influence 
is  seen  in  the  fact  that  nearly  all  the  contemporary 
and  subsequent  periodicals  take  occasion  to  acknow- 
ledge it.     The  Gentleman  praises  his  diction.     In — 
The  Olla  Podrida, — there  is  a  strong  defense  of  him  as 
against  those  who  would  magnify  his  defects.     The 
Country  Spectator,  speaks  of  the  sublime  philosophy 
of  the  Rambler.     In  The  Indian  Observer,  he  is  repre- 
sented  as  a  nervous,  original  and  intrepid  genius,  in 
whose  presence  impiety  shrinks  away.     The  author 
of  The  Advisor,  after  noting  his  merits  and  demerits 
concludes  in  highest  praise  of  his  character  and  the 
undoubted'perpetuity  of  his  writings.     In  fine,  he  so 
impressed  himself  on  his  age  that  his  style  is  marked 
by  his  own  features  and  signed  with  his  own  signa- 
ture.    It  will  never  be  confounded  with  that  of  any 
other  English  proser. 

The  lines  of  Courtenay  are  here  in  place — 

"  By  Nature's  gift  ordained  mankind  to  rule, 
He  like  a  Titian  formed  his  brilliant  school. 
Nor  was  his  energy  confined  alone 
To  friends  around  his  philosophic  throne. 
Its  influence  wide  impressed  our  lettered  isle, 
And  lucid  vigor  marked  the  general  style." 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — JOHNSON.      331 

The  language  of  Hamilton  on  Johnson's  decease  is 
a  testimony  to  his  individuality  as  he  says — "John- 
son is  dead.  Let  us  go  to  the  next  best.  No  man  can 
be  said  to  put  you  in  mind  of  him.  He  has  made  a 
chasm  which  not  only  nothing  can  fill  up  but  which 
nothing  has  a  tendency  to  fill  up." 

His  predecessor — "  Kare  "  Ben  Jonson  was  not  so 
rare  as  he.     No  other  man  ate  and  drank;  talked  and 
walked;  lived  and  wrote  as  he  did.     He  confided  in 
his  own  judgment  as  final.     The  only  body  he  ever 
consulted   for  advice   was — I,   Samuel   Johnson    and 
myself.     These  three   always   agreed.     There   is   at- 
tractiveness in  all  this.     The  tendency  to  literary  ser- 
vility is  so  strong,  that  it  is  refreshing  to  see  an  ab- 
solutely independent   author.     The  times  of  Bacon, 
Dryden  and  of  Swift  were  full  of  servility.     Every 
age  has  too  much  of  it.     A  writer  may  as  well  put  up 
his  pen  and  close  his  desk  if  instead  of  being  himself^ 
and  expressing  himself  he  is  aiming  to  appear  in  the 
personality  of  another.     In  this  particular,  Dr.  John- 
son with  all  his  faults  had  the  first  characteristic  of  a 
successful  author — Personality.     This  begets  original- 
ity of  thought  and  style. 

Lexicographer  and  Literary  Critic. 

In  closing  this  discussion,  mention  should  be  made 
of  the  author's  work  as  a  Lexicographer  and  literary 
Critic. 

In  his  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language  he  did 
a  work  not  only  philological  in  character,  but  one  in 
the  interests  of  English  Literature  and  English  Prose 
Style.     Faulty  as  it  was  on  the  side  of  scientific  ety- 


332  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

mology,  it  did  a  vast  work  in  the  line  of  clearer  defin- 
ition, in  distinction  of  synonyms  and  apt  quotations  to 
illustrate  the  sense,  and  called  attention  as  never  be- 
fore both  to  the  richness  and  needs  of  the  native- 
tongue.  He  carried  out  the  ideas  suggested  by 
Dryden  and  Swift  and  opened  the  way  for  all  later 
English  lexicography. 

As  a  Critic,  his  work  was  not  of  the  first  order  as 
compared  with  such  a  writer  as  De  Quincey.  His 
style,  therefore,  is  not  a  model  of  critical  prose.  Even 
here,  however,  his  prose  has  been  underrated.  If  he 
failed  as  a  Shakespearian  commentator  and  in  his  judg- 
ment of  Milton,  he  succeeded  in  that  of  Addison, 
Dryden,  Pope  and  others.  Many  of  his  decisions  on 
men  and  authors  are  still  standard.  Modern  stud- 
ents of  Shakespeare  and  the  English  Poets  cannot 
afford  to  be  ignorant  of  his  opinions  in  this  sphere. 
His  style,  however,  as  critical  lacks  breadth  and 
generosity  of  view,  fie  had  certain  pet  theories 
to  which  he  adhered  and  there  is  a  little  too  much  of 
the  autocratic  to  make  his  prose  a  model  in  this 
regard. 

Note  should  also  be  taken  of  his  skillful  use  of  anti- 
thesis and  of  his  style  as  in  every  sense  morally  pure 
and  ennobling.  He,  thus,  has  a  rightful  place  in 
standard  English  Prose.  If  his  faults  were  greater 
than  those  of  some  others,  his  merits  were  more  pro- 
nounced. He  could  be  no  more  easily  spared  from 
the  record  of  English  writers  than  could  any  one  of 
his  predecessors.  He  had  a  place  and  did  a  work, 
and  prepared  a  way  for  still  better  literary  effort.  He 
advises  us  in  the  formation  of  style  to  give  our  "daj'S 
and  nights  to  the  study  of  Addison."     The   careful 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS. — JOHNSON.      333 

study  of  the  best  elements  of  this  Johnsonian  method 
is  also  needed  in  the  cultivation  of  a  clear,  solid  and 
original  English  Prose. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson.  Leslie  Stephens'  Life 
of  Johnson  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.).  Macaulay's  Essays. 
Essays  of  Drake.     Carlyle's  Heroes. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  PKOSE  STYLE  OF  EDMUND  BUEKE. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  in  Dublin,  Jan.  12th,  1730.  Entered  Dublin 
University,  1744.  Degree  of  B.  A.,  1748.  Studying 
Law  at  Middle  Temple,  1750.  M.  A.,  1751.  Trav- 
eled up  to  1756.  Studied  and  wrote.  Private  Sec- 
retary of  Hamilton  in  Dublin,  1761.  Returned  to 
London,  1764.  Private  Secretary  to  Marquis  of 
Rockingham.  In  Parliament  from  Wendover,  1766. 
Re-elected,  1768.  In  Parliament  to  1794.  Retired 
with  honor  and  pensions.     Died,  July  7th,  1797. 

Variety  of  View  as  to  His  Rank. 

There  are  few  names,  if  any,  in  the  records  of 
English  Prose  Literature  concerning  whom  there 
has  been  such  a  wide  difference  of  opinion — at  the 
extremes  of  depreciation  and  of  unqualified  praise. 

Mr.  Morley,  his  latest  biographer  adduces  five 
representative  classes  of  critics,  each  holding  stren- 
uously to  its  own  special  estimate  of  the  man  and 
the  author. 

The  reference  here  is  not  to  the  opinions  held  by 
the  partisan  politicians  of  his  time,  dependent  as 
they  were  on  Burke's  relation  to  the  great  Whig  and 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— BURKE.         835 

Tory  factions,  but  to  his  strictly  literary  character  as 
a  writer.  On  this  basis,  some  speak  of  him  as  Hal- 
lam  does  in  connection  with  the  name  of  Lord  Bacon, 
as  a  far  seeing  and  profoundly  philosophic  mind, 
while  others,  as  Carlyle,  regarded  him  as  superficial 
and  unduly  verbose.  Lord  Macaulay,  in  his  brilliant 
Essay  on  Warren  Hastings,  refers  to  him  as  "the 
greatest  man  then  living,"  while  others  view  him  as 
nothing  short  of  a  political  fanatic  evincing  some 
occasional  excellence  in  the  department  of  letters. 
Mr.  Mackintosh  speaks  of  him  in  the  same  breath  as 
of  Shakespeare  and  would  bear  impressive  testimony 
to  the  imperial  quality  of  his  powers,  while  some 
have  been  found  who  were  willing  to  imply  that  in 
the  production  of  his  most  prominent  works  he  was 
mentally  astray. 

The  great  balance  of  opinion,  however,  especially 
in  modern  times,  has  been  in  favor  of  this  Anglo- 
Irish  author.  "Opinion  is  slowly,  but  without  re- 
action,'' says  Morley  "  settling  down  to  the  verdict 
that  Burke  is  one  of  the  abiding  names  in  our  his- 
tory, not  because  he  either  saved  Europe  or  destroyed 
the  Whig  party,  but  because  he  added  to  the  perma- 
nent considerations  of  wise  political  thought,  and  to 
the  maxims  of  wise  practice  in  great  affairs  ami 
because  he  imprints  himself  upon  us  with  a  mag- 
nificence and  elevation  of  expression  that  places  him 
among  the  highest  masters  of  literature."  It  is  no 
small  tribute  both  to  the  political  and  literary  genius 
of  Burke  given  by  Mr.  Fronde  in  his  work  on  Ireland, 
"that  if  Burke  had  remained  in  the  country  where 
Providence  had  placed  him,  lie  might  have  changed 
the  current  of  its  history."     As  to  the  special  style 


336  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

of  his  prose,  the  gifted  De  Quincey  says  "  that  he  was 
the  supreme  writer  of  his  century,"  to  which  Minto 
in  his  Manual  of  English  Prose  subjoins,  "  Perfect 
command  of  English  is  hard  to  attain;  we  must  be 
content  to  rank  Burke  among  the  few  that  have 
come  nearest  to  that  perfection." 

It  is  evident  from  such  eulogiums  as  these  that  we 
have  in  Edmund  Burke  one  of  the  commanding  men 
of  English  History  and  English  Letters.  The  very 
bitterness  of  some  of  the  accusations  made  against 
him  but  confirms  the  essential  greatness  of  his  nature 
and  his  work.  In  every  sense  of  the  term  he  is  a 
representative  writer  of  English  and  will  well  repay 
most  careful  study  on  the  part  of  every  critic  of  En- 
glish style. 

If  his  great  contemporary,  Fox,  could  say — "  I  have 
learned  more  from  him  than  from  all  books  I  have 
ever  read,"  he  will  have  something,  at  least,  of  ed- 
ucational and  literary  value  for  the  student  of  style. 

His  Prose  Writings. 

As  far  as  mere  quantity  of  production  is  concerned, 
Burke  ranks  among  those  of  our  prose  authors  whose 
works  are  limited.  Whether  we  view  them  as  to  the 
variety  of  their  topics  or  to  their  actual  numerical 
amount,  they  are  limited.  In  this  respect,  the  au- 
thor takes  his  place  with  such  names  as  Hooker,  and 
Milton,  rather  than  with  such  as  Johnson  and  De 
Quincey.  We  shall  find,  however,  that  his  range  of 
subject  was  varied  enough  and  his  area  of  discussion 
broad  enough  to  give  full  scope  for  the  exercise  of 
his  literary  gifts  as  well  as  to  afford  a  sufficiently 


REPRESENTATIVE    V/RITERS — BURKE.         337 

full  amount  of  prose  work  to  be  a  basis  for  intelligent 
criticism.  An  account  of  what  he  did  in  the  line  of 
poetry  is  not  here  in  place. 

The  distinction  that  some  have  made  between  his 
writings  as  literary  and  political  is  not  a  valid  one 
as  to  the  purpose  before  us,  inasmuch  as  some  of  his 
strongest  features  as  a  writer  come  into  prominence 
in  his  civic  compositions.  Tt  is  true,  as  often  stated, 
that  Burke  in  one  sense  left  literature  for  politics  and 
"gave  up  for  party  what  was  meant  for  mankind." 
In  another  and  a  far  higher  sense,  the  statement  is 
misleading,  in  that  he  took  his  literary  self  with  him 
into  the  career  of  public  life  and  through  his  author- 
ship as  a  man  of  affairs  became  all  the  more  cogent 
and  famous.  From  being  an  author  by  profession  he 
became  one  by  practice  and,  as  we  shall  see,  happily 
united  what  is  rarely  seen  in  authorship — literary 
and  civic  power. 

The  prose  productions  in  which  his  style  may  be 
judged  are  as  follows; 

A  Vindication  of  Natural  Society,  or  a  "  View  of 
The  Miseries  and  Evils  arising  to  Mankind  from 
every  Species  of  Artificial  Society."  This  work  was 
designed  to  imitate  the  style  of  Lord  Bolingbroke 
and  to  parody  his  peculiar  system  of  philosophy  and 
ethics  (175G). 

A  Philosophical  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  our  Ideas 
on  The  Sublime  and  Beautiful  (1756). 

Tn  1757  appeared — The  Account  of  The  European 
Settlements  in  America. 

Observations  on  The  Present  State  of  The  Nation. 

IVtoughts   on    the    Cause   of  the   Present  Discontents 


338  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

(1770). — in  which  he  held  that  government  should  be 
in  the  hands  of  an  aristocracy. 

Reflections  on  the  French  Revolution  (1790),  to  which 
Paine  replied  in — The  Rights  of  Man. 

Thoughts  on  French  Affairs  (1791). 

Speech  on  American  Taxation,  April  19th,  1774. 

Speech  on  Conciliation  ivith  America,  March  22nd, 
1775,  when  he  offered  thirteen  resolutions  of  con- 
cession. 

Letter  to  the  Sheriffs  of  Bristol  (1777). 

Speech  on  the  Nabob  of  Arcofs  Debts  (1785). 

Speech  on  the  India  Bill  of  1783. 

Speech  on  the  Economical  Reform  Bill,  1780. 

Appeal  from  the  Neio  to  the  Old  Whigs  (1792). 

Letter  to  a  Noble  Lord  (The  Duke  of  Bedford), 
(1796). 

Letters  on  a  Regicide  Peace  (1796-7). 

The  Impeachment  of  Hastings  (1788-9). 

In  addition  to  these  as  the  most  important  of  his 
prose  works  reference  might  be  made  to — 

The  Annual  Register  (1759). 
Hints  for  an  Essay  on  The  Drama. 
Abridgment  of  the  History  of  England. 

From  this  list  of  titles  it  will  be  noted  that  al- 
though the  province  of  authorship  is  limited,  it 
embraces  all  the  essential  forms  of  prose — narrative, 
descriptive,  oratorical,  philosophical  and  miscel- 
laneous. While  the  topics  are  as  distinct  as  the 
political,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  aesthetic,  on 
the  other,  most  of  them  are  civil  in  character  and 
given  in  the  form  of  pamphlets  or  parliamentary 
speeches. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BURKE.         339 


His  Prose  Style — Conditions. 

In  the  analysis  and  study  of  Burke's  style,  two 
matters  of  moment  must  ever  be  kept  in  view. 

(a)  His  Style  as  conditioned  by  his  Character: 

This  vital  relation  of  the  author  and  the  man  is 
noticeable,  as  we  have  marked  in  the  history  of  every 
prominent  English  writer.  It  is  an  essential  part 
and  indication  of  such  prominence.  Every  master 
in  letters  is  known  for  his  individuality.  Second 
and  third-rate  authors  imitate  others.  First-rate  au- 
thors are  self-directing.  They  write  themselves  into 
their  words.  Burke  as  a  writer  is  especially  sug- 
gestive here.  The  man  must  be  known  in  order  to  be 
understood  as  an  author. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  was  by  birth  and 
education  a  Celt.  Born  in  Dublin,  early  at  school  at 
Ballitore  within  thirty  miles  of  it  and  then,  in  Trinity 
College  at  Dublin,  it  was  not  till  1750,  just  at  his 
majority,  that  he  is  found  at  London.  He  had  all 
that  loyalty  for  his  country  which  characterizes  the 
native  Celt  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  he  may  be. 
He  had  that  impatient  ambition  and  fiery  zeal  which 
signalizes  the  Celt  and  that  Hibernian  independence 
which  led  him  to  say  "  I  was  not  made  for  a  minion 
or  a  tool;  I  possessed  not  one  of  the  qualities,  nor 
cultivated  one  of  the  arts,  that  recommend  men  to 
tin;  favor  and  protection,  of  the  great."  His  loves 
and  his  hates  were  Celtic.  His  partisan  attachment 
to  what  he  endorsed  took  the  form  of  a  passionate 
devotion  and  vented  itself  in  the  form  of  indignant 
invective   against  his  opponents.      "  When  bad   men 


340  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

combine,  the  good  must  associate"  was  his  watch- 
word and  stimulus,  in  party  organization,  and  he 
believed  that  nothing  could  be  effectively  done  save 
by  concerted  action.  His  convictions  were  so  strong 
and  deep  that  opposition  only  inflamed  them  into 
greater  intensity  of  expression. 

In  proneness  to  satire  and  fondness  for  imagery 
and  romance  he  was  also  a  true  Celt,  while  in  addi- 
tion to  it  all,  his  character  was  marked  by  that 
sense  of  personal  dignity  which  no  loyal  son  of  Erin 
is  without. 

The  study  of  Burke's  style  is  largely  a  study  of 
these  features  of  the  personality  of  the  man.  They 
appear  and  disappear  but  are  always  present  in  the 
substantial  body  of  the  writing  and  must  be  seen  in 
order  to  its  correct  interpretation. 

(b)  His  Style  is  conditioned  by  his  Age. 

As  decided  as  Burke's  individuality  was,  it  was  af- 
fected in  various  ways  by  the  peculiar  type  of  the 
times  in  which  Providence  placed  him.  The  age  did 
not  control  but  it  did  modify  the  expression  of  his 
thought.  Though  it  is  true  that  every  master-mind 
has,  as  such,  more  influence  on  his  age  than  his  age 
has  on  him,  it  is,  also,  true  that  no  man  however 
great  can  ignore  the  era  in  which  he  lives  or  rise 
above  it.  Pie  would  not  do  it,  if  he  could.  Burke 
wrote  differently  from  what  he  would  have  done  had 
he  lived  a  century  earlier  or  later,  and  yet,  no  care- 
ful observer  of  the  fitness  of  things  can  fail  to  notice 
that  he  was  adapted  to  his  age  as  his  age  was  to 
him.  Fie  would  not  have  been  the  Burke  of  English 
Literature  apart  from  his  peculiar  epoch. 

When  we  ask  as  to  what  the  special  characteristic 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — BURKE.         341 

of  the  time  was,  we  find  it  to  have  been  one  of  agita- 
tion. It  was  an  age  of  destruction  in  order  to  con- 
struction ;  of  disturbance  in  order  to  adjustment. 
The  very  titles  of  his  pamphlets  and  speeches  indi- 
cate the  unsettled  condition  of  the  time.  It  was  the 
eva  of  "  Present  Discontents,"  the  age  of  the  Ameri- 
can and  French  Revolutions,  when  taxation  and 
tyranny,  conciliation  and  party,  legal  right  and 
constitutional  privilege  were  the  topics  of  the  hour. 
The  conservative  tendencies  were  in  conflict  with 
the  progressive.  Old  traditions  were  violently  dis- 
placed by  the  most  extreme  policies,  "the  distempers 
of  monarchy  by  the  distempers  of  Parliament." 
There  was,  therefore,  more  than  mere  change  and 
readjustment  in  the  temper  of  the  time.  There  was 
a  wildness  and  passionateness  about  it  that  marked 
the  influence  of  France  on  England  and  the  unwill- 
ingness of  the  mother  country  to  yield  up  the  control 
of  her  American  colonies. 

From  all  this  it  will  appear  that  the  literature  of 
the  time  would  reflect  the  character  of  the  time. 
This  would  be  especially  so  in  the  province  of  prose 
and  on  the  part  of  such  an  author  as  Burke. 

The  dispassionate  productions  of  Bacon  and  Hooker 
or  the  didactic  papers  of  Addison  and  Johnson  or  the 
light  descriptive  sketches  of  Charles  Lamb  and  of 
Dickens  would  have  been  impossible  in  such  an  era. 
The  age  was  agitative.  All  was  aglow  and  ablaze. 
Repeal  and  reform  were  in  order  and  this  meant  pre- 
ceding dismemberment. 

If  "  the  style  is  the  man,"  the  style  is  the  age  also. 
We  shall  look  in  the  prose  of  Burke  for  a  pertinent 
example  of  Mr.  Taine's  theory  on  this  subject. 


342  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

His  treatises  on,  The  Sublime  and  Beautiful,  and  on 
the  Drama,  apart,  there  is  nothing  that  he  spoke  or 
wrote  that  does  not  bear  upon  its  face  the  political 
imprint  of  the  era.  Never  did  a  period  and  a  writer 
more  fully  represent  each  other,  and.  this  is  a  fact 
which  not  only  adds  to  the  interest  of  the  author's 
prose  and  to  the  ease  of  its  analysis,  but  also,  indi- 
cates on  his  part  the  presence  of  keen  intellectual 
foresight  and  literary  adaptiveness. 

SPECIAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  HIS  STYLE. 
(1.)  Forensic  and  Impassioned. 

It  was  impassioned  because  it  was  forensic  and 
political  in  character.  From  what  has  been  said  as 
to  the  Celtic  nature  of  the  author  and  the  controver- 
sial nature  of  the  age,  such  an  order  of  prose  would 
be  expected.  Historians  speak  of  the  natural  ardor 
of  style;  of  its  glowing  and  fervent  phrases;  its  in- 
terest and  sympathy;  its  persuasive  power  and  unc- 
tion. This  is  all  in  the  line  of  correct  criticism  and 
has  to  do  with  that  special  quality  now  in  question. 
Burke's  prose  is  as  prominent  an  example  as  there  is 
in  English  Letters  of  the  oratorical  style,  in  the  best 
sense  of  that  term.  The  reported  speeches  of  Fox  and 
Grattan,  Pitt  and  Sheridan — his  great  contemporaries, 
evince  occasional  passages  of  equal  excellence  but  as 
to  the  entire  body  of  oratorical  prose  produced,  Burke 
is  the  superior  of  any  one  of  them  and  marks  the 
highest  point  as  yet  attained  in  England  in  forensic 
prose. 

His  temperament  was  impassioned.  The  age  was 
impassioned.     His   themes    were   impassioned.     His 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BURKE.  343 

very  auditors  and  readers  were  wrought  up  to  the 
very  highest  levels  of  emotive  interest.  The  issues 
at  stake  in  civil  and  common  life;  in  politics  and 
public  morals  were  of  primary  import.  Everything 
depended  on  their  proper  settlement.  In  fact,  no 
author  of  that  time  at  all  alive  to  pending  problems, 
could  have  been  anything  else  than  positive,  intense 
and  impressive  in  his  style.  Apart  from  such  a 
method  he  would  not  have  been  heard  or  read. 
Hence,  the  historical  and  literarv  fact  that  the  prose 
of  the  period  is  of  the  emotive  order  rather  than 
didactic,  and  Burke  is  supreme  in  this  respect  only 
because  he  rose  in  his  writing  to  a  higher  and  a 
more  prolonged  intensiveness  of  utterance  than  did 
any  of  his  colleagues.  While  all  of  his  political  writ- 
ings are  of  this  order,  there  are  some  of  them  that 
are  so  full  of  "  words  that  burn"  that  they  cannot  be 
read  even  at  this  late  date  without  eliciting  the 
profoundest  feelings  of  the  soul,  and  the  reader  for- 
gets that  he  is  a  century  beyond  the  French  Revolu- 
tion and  the  impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings. 

We  have  already  called  attention  to  some  of  our 
prose  authors  in  whom  this  quality  of  style  is 
found.  It  is  in  Hooker  and  in  Milton;  in  Swift 
and  Macaulay,  but  in  none,  save  Milton,  as  an 
element  of  eminence,  while  even  in  the  Puritan  Po- 
lemic it  is  somewhat  tempered  and  weakened  by 
other  elements.  In  Burke,  it  is  supreme  and  rises  to 
the  level  of  the  sublime.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in 
English  annals.  It  is  found  in  part  in  Pericles  and 
Demosthenes;  in  Cicero  as  the  enemy  of  Cataline; 
in  Mirabeau  as  he  appeared  in  the  French  Assembly 
and  in  Patrick   Henry  before  the  Burgesses  of  Vir- 


344  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ginia.  If  we  inquire  as  to  any  special  examples  of 
this  impassioned  style,  one  can  scarcely  go  astray  in 
the  speeches  and  pamphlets  that  he  penned. 

The  most  prominent  of  these  undoubtedly  is  what 
he  gives  us  in  connection  with  the  Trial  of  Hastings. 
To  make  selections  here  would  be  unnecessary.  Never 
in  the  history  of  secular  eloquence  has  a  higher  point 
been  reached  than  on  that  day  in  the  great  hall  of 
William  liufus.  The  excitement  of  the  country  on 
the  Indian  question  was  at  white  heat.  Burke,  Fox 
and  Sheridan  and  the  advocates  of  Hastings  were 
moved  as  never  before,  and  as  the  famous  Irish  accu- 
ser summed  up  his  charges  and  detailed  the  grounds 
of  his  impeachment,  the  effect  was  nothing  less  than 
marvelous. 

"Therefore  hath  it  with  all  confidence  been  ordered  by  the  Com- 
mons of  Great  Britain  that  I  impeach  Warren  Hastings  of  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors.  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  The 
Commons  House  of  Parliament,  whose  trust  he  has  betrayed.  I 
impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  English  nation,  whose  ancient 
honor  he  has  sullied.  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  people  of 
India,  whose  rights  he  has  trodden  under  foot  and  whose  country 
he  has  turned  into  a  desert.  Lastly,  in  the  name  of  human  nature 
itself,  in  the  name  of  both  sexes;  in  the  name  of  every  age;  in  the 
name  of  every  rank,  I  impeach  the  common  enemy  and  oppressor 
of  all." 

Macaulay  in  his  brilliant  article  on  Hastings  has 
given  the  account  and  the  immediate  effect  of  this 
impeachment.     It  is  oratorical  passion  in  the  essence. 

Brief  extracts  from  some  other  examples  will  indi- 
cate a  similar  intensity  of  soul.  In  the  speech  on — 
The  Nabob  of  Arcot's  Debts — we  read  the  description 
of  Hyder  Ali's  desolation  of  the  Carnatic  in  part  as 
follows: 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BURKE.         345 

"When  at  length  Hyder  Ali  found  that  he  had  to  do  with  men 
who  either  would  sign  no  convention  or  whom  no  treaty  or  signa- 
ture could  bind,  and  who  were  the  determined  enemies  of  human 
intercourse  itself,  he  decreed  to  make  the  country  a  memorable  ex- 
ample to  mankind.  He  resolved  to  leave  the  whole  Carnatic  an 
everlasting  monument  of  vengeance,  to  put  perpetual  desolation  as 
a  barrier  between  him  and  those  against  whom  the  faith  which 
holds  the  moral  elements  of  the  world  together  was  no  protection. 
Then  ensued  a  scene  of  woe  the  like  of  which  no  eye  had  seen,  no 
heart  conceived  and  which  no  tongue  can  adequately  tell.  All  the 
horrors  of  war  before  known  or  heard  of  were  mercy  to  that  new 
havoc.  For  eighteen  months  without  intermission,  this  destruction 
raged  from  the  gates  of  Madras  to  the  gates  of  Taujore. 

"So  completely  did  these  masters  of  their  art  absolve  themselves 
of  their  impious  vow,  that,  when  the  .British  armies  traversed,  as 
they  did,  the  Carnatic  for  hundreds  of  miles  in  all  directions,  they 
did  not  see  one  man,  not  one  woman,  not  one  child,  not  one  four- 
footed  beast.  One  dead,  uniform  silence  reigned  over  the  whole 
region." 

In  a  notable  letter  to  Elliot  on  the  question  of  re- 
form he  writes — 

"How  often  has  public  calamity  been  arrested  on  the  very  brink 
of  ruin  by  the  seasonable  energy  of  a  single  man  !  Have  we  no 
such  man  among  us  ?  I  am  as  sure  as  I  am  of  my  being  that  one 
vigorous  mind,  without  office,  without  situation,  without  public 
functions  of  any  kind,  confiding  in  the  aid  of  God  and  full  of  just 
reliance  in  his  own  fortitude,  would  first  draw  to  him  some  few 
like  himself  and  then  multitudes  would  appear.  If  I  saw  this 
auspicious  beginning,  baffled  and  frustrated  as  I  am,  on  the  very 
verge  of  a  timely  grave,  abandoned  abroad  and  desolate  at  home 
yet  thus,  even  thus  I  would  rake  up  tho  fires  under  all  the  ashes 
that  oppress  it.  Even  in  solitudo  something  may  be  done  for 
society.  The  meditations  of  tho  closet  have  affected  senates  with 
a  sudden  frenzy  and  inflamed  armies  with  the  brands  of  the  furies. 
Why  should  not  a  Maccabeus  arise  to  assert  the  honor  of  the  an- 
cient laws  and  to  defend  the  temple  of  their  forefathers,  for  when 
once  things  are  gone  out  of  their  ordinary  course,  it  is  by  acts  out 
of  the  ordinary  course  they  can  alone  be  re-established." 


346  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

But  it  is  needless  to  multiply  these  references.      In 
his — Reflections  on  The  French  Revolution — and  his 
—  Letters  on  a  Regicide  Peace,  and,  most  especially, 
in   his    three    great    efforts   in    connection    with    the 
American   War,  these  impassioned  outbursts  are  on 
every  page,  while  even  in  his  most  didactic  utterances 
there  is  a  kind  of  suppressed  earnestness  of  soul  that 
influences  the  reader.     All  this  is  forensic  and  potent, 
full   of  the    genuine   Celtic  fervor  and  fire.     It  is  a 
quality  of  prose  style   that  was  then  at  its  best  ex- 
pression  in   England   and   Ireland    and    France    and 
which  rose  to  special  excellence  in  America  in  the 
persons  of  Adams,  Hamilton,  Webster,  Clay  and  Cal- 
houn.    Specially  adapted  to  the  public  audience  and 
to   questions   uniting  political   issues,  it  has,  also,  a 
most  important  place  in  the  province  of  literary  prose 
and  goes  far  to  redeem  it  from  that  charge  of  dullness 
so  often  and  so  justly  made  against  it.     When  men 
speak  and  write  on  any  topic  of  vital  moment,  some- 
thing  of  this    Burkeian    emotiveness  is  essential  to 
the  highest  effect;  Clearness  is  the  first  quality  of 
style,   but  force  is  next  and  close  upon  it — and  these 
should  co-exist  as  mutual  aids  in  writing.     In  these 
speeches  of  Burke  we  find  notable  examples  of  the 
close  connection  between  written  and  oral  discourse. 
His  speeches  after  their  delivery  were  revised  and 
sent  to  the  press  for  publication  and  became  at  once 
a  part  of  the  literature  of  England.     They  had  all 
the  correctness  of  written  language,  and  yet,  all  the 
unction  of  spoken   discourse.     While   they  instruct, 
they  also  impress  and  stimulate  us.     They  serve  to 
teach  the  valuable  lesson  in  style  that  there  is  in  all 
writing  an  element  that  may  be  called  oratorical  or 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BURKE.         347 

impassioned  and  should  ever  have  its  proper  place  in 
common  with  the  other  qualities  of  prose  expression. 
It  is  pertinent    in    this   connection   to    state   that 
modern  criticism  has  somewhat  objected  to  the  style 
of  Burke  as  being  extreme  in  the  way  of  oratorical 
fervor,  or  rather   as   being   more   dezlamatory  than 
eloquent.     One    of  his  most  successful  biographers, 
MacKnight,    states    "  that    his    vehemence    was    fre- 
quently injurious  to  the  object  he  had  in  view."     So 
Carlyle    speaks   of  him   as    "  vehement  rather    than 
earnest,"  while  it  has  rather  been  the  fashion  of  late 
in  certain  quarters  to  reduce  this  forensic  feature  in 
Burke's  style  to  the  minimum.     Such  a  criticism  is 
not  unnatural.     There  is,  at  times,  too  much  of  the 
declamatory  element  in  Burke.     There  is  too  much 
exaggerated  and  wayward  assertion    under  the  im- 
pulse of  the  moment.     There  is  something  of  what  is 
termed  the  grandiose  style.     This  is  true,  and  yet, 
what  is  to   be   made  of  it  as  essentially  detracting 
from  the  high  fame  of  Burke  as  an  intensive  writer? 
His  errors  here  were  altogether  exceptional.     Never 
did  a  man   more   carefully    forecast   the   line   of  his 
ai'gument.     As   Morley  remarks  of,  The  Reflections, 
*'  It  was  no  superb   improvisation."     His  pamphlets 
and  speeches  cost  him  study,  care,  and  the  most  un- 
wearied painstaking.     So  that  as  Craik  remarks,  "  His 
writings  are  the  only  English  political  writings  of 
a  past  age  that  continue  to  be  read  in  the  present. 
In  the  fiery  excitement  of  the  time  and  the  almost 
oppressive  interest  that  centred  about  the  great  ques- 
tions  that    were    under    discussion,   it  is  not   at   all 
strange  that  feeling  and    imagination,  at  times,  took 
control    of   the  judgment    and  led    the    author  into 


348  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

extremes.  This,  however,  was  rare  and  as  in  the 
case  of  the  trial  of  Hastings  when  the  audience  was 
well  nigh  unmanned,  Burke  was  self-possessed  and 
master  of  the  hour.  It  is  just  here  that  Burke  differs 
from  Macaulay  and  is  his  superior,  in  that,  where 
the  gifted  essayist  so  often  digresses  into  vapid 
declamation  without  soul  or  substance,  the  Irish 
orator  is  full  of  true  feeling,  fertile  in  ideas  and  ex- 
presses himself  for  a  valid  purpose.  The  more  care- 
fully one  understands  the  temperament  of  Burke  and 
his  times  and  the  more  closely  his  style  is  scanned, 
the  more  manifest  it  will  be  that  while  forensic  pas- 
sion too  often  passes  into  extravagance,  the  great 
body  of  his  prose  is  marked  by  that  genuine  emotion 
which  tells  of  a  great  heart  and  a  catholic  interest 
in  the  race. 

(2.)  Dignified  and  Manly. 

Here  again,  we  touch  the  close  relation  of  Burke's 
personality  to  his  style.  Even  in  his  boyhood  and 
early  school  days,  there  was  seen  a  kind  of  maturity 
of  manner  indicative  of  thoughtfulness  and  promising 
future  eminence.  Sobriety  of  temperament  was,  in  a 
sense,  constitutional  with  him  and  in  fullest  harmony 
with  his  impassioned  earnestness  of  nature,  while  his 
fond -devotion  to  his  old  Quaker  teacher  from  York- 
shire may  have  deepened  and  mellowed  this  inborn 
tendency.  It  is  well  known  what,  impressions  he 
made  in  this  particular  upon  some  of  the  leading 
minds  of  his  time.  When  Robertson  remarked  that 
Burke  had  wit,  Johnson  objected,  in  that  he  felt  that 
Burke   could   never  condescend   to  the  level   of  the 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS:— BURKE.         349 

puuster  and  the  clown.  It  was  Johnson  who  tells  us 
that  any  person  «could  see  at  once  that  Burke  was  an 
extraordinary  man,  did  he  but  meet  him  casually 
by  the  way  for  a  moment's  chat,  and  he  asserted  that 
he  was  the  only  man  he  ever  met  whose  common  con- 
versation corresponded  with  his  high  intellectual 
character  and  fame.  He  was  always  the  great  and 
manly  Burke. 

We  learn  that  Burke's  view  of  Sheridan  was  com- 
paratively indifferent  in  that  there  was  a  lack  of 
moral  gravity  with  which  he  could  have  no  sincere 
sympathy.  He  was  specially  fond  of  discussing  high 
themes  and  conversing  about  the  leading  names  of 
history.  In  this  respect,  his  nature' was  Miltonic  and 
Homeric.  In  our  own  country  it  might  be  termed — 
Websterian.  His  brow  was  massive  and  so  was  his 
soul,  ai  i  he  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  those 
numberless  potty  questions  and  incidents  that  seem 
to  absorb  the  thought  of  the  multitude. 

All  this  in  the  man,  revealed  itself  in  the  author. 
There  is  a  something  about  the  movement  of  Burke's 
prose  that  is  majestic  and  magisterial — nothing  base 
or  belittling,  nothing  puerile  or  trivial,  nothing  even 
merely  amusing  for  amusment's  sake,  but  a  kind  of 
judicial  gravity  everywhere  apparent  that  makes  it 
impossible  lor  a  man  to  be  any  other  than  in  sober 
earnest  as  he  peruses  it.  His  treatise  on — The  Sublime 
— is  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  marks  the  uniform 
quality  of  his  writing.  Hence,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  to  what  views  of  things  us  a  writer  this  element 
of  personal  dignity  gives  origin — to  his  broad  views 
of  the  proper  functions  and  objects  of  civil  govern- 
ment; to  his  wide  and  sobei  sc. ernes  as  to  church  and 


350  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

state,  trade  and  society;  to  his  philanthropic  interest 
in  the  oppressed  classes  whether  they,  were  slaves  iu 
chains  or  colonists  in  America  or  the  victims  of  raj    - 
city  in  India.      It  was  this  high  sense  of  honor  1 1,  it 
gave  occasion  to  some  of  the  finest  passages  of  his 
prose.      When  asked  by  the  gentlemen  of  Bristol  to 
advocate    what   he    felt   he   could   not,   he   said — "I 
should  only  disgrace  myself.      I  should  lose  the  only 
thing  which  can  make  such  abilities  as  mine  of  any 
use  to  the  world — I  mean  that  authority  which  is  de- 
rived from   the  opinion   that   a    member  speaks  the 
language  of  truth  and  sincerity  and  that  he  is  not 
ready  to  take  up  or  lay  down  a  great  political  system 
for  the  convenience  of  the  hour;  that  he  is  in  Parlia- 
ment to  support  his  opinion  of  the  public  good  and 
does  not  form  his  opinion  in  order  to  get  into  Parlia- 
ment or  to  continue  in  it."     "  I  never  will  suffer,"  he 
said,  "any  man  or  description  of  man  to  suffer  from 
errors  that  naturally  have  grown  out  of  the  abusive 
constitution  of  those  offices  which  I  propose  to  regu- 
late,— If  I  cannot  reform  with  equity,  I  will  not  re- 
form at  all."     Such  was  the  manly  tenor  of  his  words. 
Whenever  he  wrote  or  spoke,  it  was  under  the  influ- 
ence of  a  high  idea  of  the  nature  of  man,  the  excel- 
lence   of    truth,    the    momentous    interests  at  stake. 
There  was  a  total  absence  of  that  cynical  view  of  man 
which  Swift  and  Carlyle  possessed  and  nothing  of  that 
spirit  of  levity  which  marked  the  writers  of  the  Res- 
toration.    He  had  the  gravity  of  Richard  Hooker  in 
connection    with   a   wider   breadth    of  intellect  and 
soul. 

Morley  is  right  when  he  says  that  "  Burke  had  the 
sacred  gift  of  inspiring  men  to  use  a  grave  diligenoe 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BURKE.         351 

in  caring  for  high  things  and  in  making  their  lives 
rich  and  austere." 

It  is  this  feature  of  the  prose  before  us  that  gives 
to  it  the  additional  feature  of  ethical  vitality.  There 
is  a  moral  tone  throughout  that  is  sound  and  whole- 
some. There  is  what  Longinus  would  term — an 
elevation  of  spirit  and  expression  that  at  once  im- 
presses the  mind  of  the  reader  and  inclines  him  to 
the  best  things.  It  is  not  necessary,  here,  to  inquire 
minutely  into  the  personal  religious  life  of  Burke  fur- 
ther than  to  say  that  he  was  a  pure,  conscientious 
and  upright  man.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  inquire  how 
he  adjusted  the  Protestant  beliefs  of  his  father  with 
the  Romish  beliefs  of  his  mother  and  these  again, 
with  the  simple  Quaker  creed  of  Shackleton,  his  early 
teacher,  further  than  to  say  that  he  was  brought  up  in 
the  faith  of  his  father  and  was  an  English  Protestant. 
Nor  is  it  necessary  to  attempt  to  explain  in  consist- 
ency with  his  professions  certain  official  acts  that  a 
hostile  criticism  has  charged  to  his  account  further 
than  to  say,  that  Burke's  parliamentary  record  of  thirty 
years  is  characteristically  free  from  those  official 
errors  and  vices  which  mark  the  lives  of  so  many 
legislators.  We  are  speaking  of  his  prose  style  in  its 
substantial  merit  when  we  say  that  it  is  morally  ele- 
vated and  elevating  throughout.  It  brings  the  reader 
into  the  region  of  the  highest  and  best,  things  and 
obliges  him  to  take  more  exalted  views  of  himself  and 
his  mission.  If  this  be  so,  the  prose  of  Burke  should 
find  a  place  in  the  library  of  every  thoughtful  English 
speaking  student.  We  may  say  of  it,  as  wo  may  say 
in  regard  to  De  Quincey's,  that  young  men,  especially, 
will  find  it  full  of  just  the  literary  and  ethical  teach- 


852  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ing  that  they  need.  The  record  of  English  Prose  will 
furnish  no  better  prose  than  Burke's  in  the  line  ot 
healthful,  literary  stimulus  and  judicious  guidance 
in  the  expression  of  thought.  Most  of  all,  must  they 
read  it  who  wish  to  do  any  worthy  work  in  the  sphere 
of  forensic  writing.  Combining  as  it  does  the  elements 
of  genuine  feeling  and  ethical  dignity,  it  is  calculated 
to  produce  the  best  possible  effect  upon  the  mind 
addressed.  Burke  is  one  of  the  world's  dignitaries 
and  is  still  potent  in  modern  history.  His  style  is 
full  of  his  great  soul  and  no  one  can  put  himself  fairly 
into  contact  with  the  moral  grandeur  of  his  prose  and 
not  be  a  stronger  man  and  a  more  effective  writer. 

(3.)  Practical  and  Timely. 

His  style  was  such  by  the  very  force  of  circum- 
stances, quite  apart  from  the  man  himself.  He  could 
not  have  been  otherwise  in  the  reign  of  George  III., 
and  as  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament.  The  age 
was  practical.  The  issues  at  stake  were  practical. 
A  few,  indeed,  such  as  Bolingbroke  were  spinning 
their  metaphysical  theories,  but  the  great  majority 
of  the  scholars  and  writers  and  people  of  the  time 
were  awake  and  devoted.  The  same  influences  that 
made  men  fervent  made  them  advocates  of  the  use- 
ful. All  this  in  the  age  was  fully  in  keeping  with 
the  inner  spirit  and  purpose  of  Burke.  He  was  as  far 
as  possible  from  being  a  visionary  or  a  mere  political 
schemer.  That  moral  gravity  of  which  we  have 
spoken  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  do  anything 
earnestly  for  any  other  reason  than  for  its  practical 
value.      Burke    was   a   philosopher    in    the    concrete 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.  —BL  'RK~E.         353 

sense  of  the  term.  He  cared  nothing  far  abstract 
speculation  and  went,  at  times,  to  extremes  in  his 
language  as  to  the  uselessness  of  mere  theory. 

"  I  do  not  mean  to  condemn,"  he  says,  "  such  spec- 
ulative inquiries  concerning  this  great  object.  They 
may  tend  to  clear  doubtful  points  and,  possibly,  may 
lead  to  real  improvements.  What  I  object  to,  is, 
their  introduction  into  a  discourse  relating  to  the  im- 
mediate state  of  our  affairs  and  recommending  plans 
of  practical  government." 

There  was  everything  in  Burke's  history  to  make 
him  thus  suspicious  of  all  vagaries  as  a  writer.  "He 
was  emphatically,"  says  Mr.  Craik,  "a  practical  po- 
litician and,  above  all,  an  English  politician."  His 
early  official  life  in  the  Secretaryship,  his  service  of 
nearly  a  generation  in  Parliament;  his  constant  con- 
tact with  public  men  and  affairs  of  state  deepened 
this  tendency.  One  of  the  strongest  arguments 
against  the  criticism  of  Burke's  oratory  as  mere 
declamation  is  the  fact,  that  he  had  actually  no  time 
for  such  declamation.  As  Arnold  expresses  it,  he 
"  was  saturated  with  ideas  "  and  used  words  only  as 
means  to  their  expression.  Even  in  his  great  speech 
at  the  impeachment  which  took  hours  for  its  deliv- 
ery, he  was  too  busy  for  the  mere  parade  of  his  power 
nor  did  he  think  of  it  for  a  moment.  What  the 
critics  have  called  digression  and  nights  of  fane}*, 
was  but  the  method  by  which  unconsciously  he  re- 
lieved his  mind  from  that  almost  unbearable  tension 
to  which  it  was  stretched.  What  he  was  aiming  at 
was  the  rectification  of  Indian  abuses  under  the 
policy  of  Hastings,  and  every  syllable  counted  for 
one,  in  the  solemn  indictment. 


354  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

So,  in  the  pamphlets  on  the  French  and  American 
Revolutions  and  the  great  questions  of  reform.  His 
aim  was  the  defense  of  popular  privilege  against  the 
exactions  of  despotism  and  of  official  purity  against 
official  corruption.  Never  has  a.- man  had  a  more 
definite  purpose  or  more  definitely  worked  toward  its 
fulfillment.  All  his  utterances  revealed  this  fact, 
and  most  especially  do  those  in  which  he  was  con- 
tending for  popular  rights.  "  I  am  not  one  of  those," 
he  said,  "  who  think  that  the  people  are  never  wrong. 
They  have  been  so,  frequently  and  outrageously,  in 
other  countries  and  in  this.  But  I  do  say  that  in  all 
disputes  between  them  and  their  rulers,  the  pre- 
sumption is  at  least  upon  a  par."  To  press  this 
presumption  against  all  odds  was  the  aim  of  Burke. 
He  was  not  at  all  in  favor  of  a  pure  democracy  and 
therefore  opposed  the  French  Revolution  from  the 
outset.  He  was,  however,  heartily  in  favor  of  a  lim- 
ited democracy  and  therefore  opposed  the  monarch- 
ical despotism  of  the  mother  country  in  her  relations 
to  the  colonies. 

It  was  this  union  of  conservative  stability  with 
progressive  ideas  as  to  constitutional  reform  that 
made  him  such  a  power  in  the  state. 

Burke's  prose  was  thus  full  of  this  practical  busi- 
ness-like element.  It  was  not  simply  prose  as  distinct 
from  poetry,  but  pertinent  and  utilitarian  as  dis- 
tinct from  indefinite.  It  was  the  real  proversus  or 
prorsus — the  straightforward  way  of  stating  things. 

It  is  in  point  here  to  state  that  this  is  a  feature  of 
style  far  too  little  seen  even  in  authors  of  note. 
There  is  not  enough  of  direct  address — a  speaking 
and  writing  to  the  point  in  hand,  so  that  the  results 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — BURKE.         355 

are  manifest  and  permanent.  In  this  respect,  polit- 
ical prose  as  represented  in  Burke  has  every  advan- 
tage in  that  it  is  addressed  directly  to  the  questions 
at  issue.  There  is  nothing  merely  poetic  or  fanciful 
here,  but  all  is  serious  and  definite  and  the  writer  is 
held  closely  to  a  practical  end  by  the  very  nature  of 
his  theme. 


(4.)  Satirical  and  Figurative. 

Burke's  first  production  of  any  note — A  Vindication 
of  Natural  Society — was  of  the  satirical  order  as 
directed  against  the  style  and  philosophy  of  Boling- 
broke,  and  so  complete  was  the  disguise  that  it  was 
commonly  referred  to  Lord  Bolingbroke  himself. 
This  element  of  irony  naturally  found  its  best  ex- 
pression in  his  pamphlets  and  speeches  and  naturally 
took  the  form  of  impassioned  invective,  in  his  papers 
on  the  French  and  the  American  Revolutions;  in  his 
Impeachment  of  Hastings  and  his  defense  of  the 
Reform  Bill,  are  to  be  found  some  of  the  finest  ex- 
amples in  English  Prose  of  successful  satire.  It  is, 
also,  noticeable  that  inasmuch  as  satire  essentially 
involves  figurative  forms  the  ironical  and  figurative 
elements  combine  in  the  prose  of  Burke. 

In — The  Reflections — when  speaking  of  the  Nat- 
ional Assembly  of  France  he  states — 


"  It  is  notorious  that  all  their  measures  are  decided  before  they 
are  debated.  If  is  beyond  doubt  that  under  the  terror  of  the  bayo- 
net and  the  lamp-post  they  are  obliged  to  adopt  all  the  desperate 
measures  suggested  by  clubs  composed  of  a  medley  of  all  tongues. 


356  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Among  these  are  found  persons,  in  comparison  of  whom  Cataline 
would  be  thought  scrupulous,  and  Cethegus  a  man  of  sobriety. 
Tenderness  to  individuals  is  considered  as  treason  to  the  public. 
Liberty  is  always  to  be  estimated  perfect  as  property  is  rendered 
insecure.  Amidst  assassination  and  massacre,  they  are  forming 
plans  for  the  good  order  of  future  society." 

In  his — Letter  to  a  Noble  Lord — he  writes: — 

"I  challenge  the  Duke  of  Bedford  as  a  juror  to  pass  upon  the 
value  of  my  services.  I  have  no  doubt  of  his  Grace's  readiness  in 
all  the  calculations  of  vulgar  arithmetic,  but  I  shrewdly  suspect 
that  he  is  little  studied  in  the  theory  of  moral  proportions,  and  has 
never  learned  the  rule  of  three  in  the  arithmetic  of  state." 

In  his  speech  at  the  trial  of  Hastings  even  his  own 
great  powers  almost  seem  to  fail  him  in.  his  effort  to 
express  the  deep  intensity  of  his  soul.  All  forms  of 
irony,  from  the  courteous  innuendo  to  the  mock- 
heroic  are  used.  All  species  of  figure  from  metaphor 
to  hyperbole  are  used,  because  as  Macaulay  states  it, 
"The  thought  of  the  crimes  (of  Hastings)  made  the 
blood  of  Burke  boil  in  his  veins,"  No  ordinary  lan- 
guage would  at  all  suffice  and  he  must  resort  to  the 
unusual  and  striking. 

At  times,  the  style  of  Burke  reaches  the  extreme 
of  invective  and  metaphor  and  no  terms  can  be  too 
violent  to  vent  his  indignation.  In  the  main,  how- 
ever, he  keeps  his  prose  within  the  bounds  of  personal 
and  literary  propriet}^.  Less  chaste  and  cautious 
than  De  Quincey  and  Dickens,  he  is  more  vigorous 
than  either  in  his  use  of  imagery,  while  he  surpasses 
Macaulay  himself  in  some  of  his  imaginative  nights. 
Readers  have  often  noted  the  descriptive  power  of 
Burke's   style,    its   illustrative  or  imaginative   char- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— BURKE.         357 

acter,  as  exhibited,  especially,  in  his  parliamentary 

addresses.     Such  a  feature  was  a  part  of  his  Celtic 

nature    and    vastly    deepened    by    his    experiences. 

He  had    what  is  termed  the  historic  imagination  as 

distinct  from    the    philosophic    or   poetic.      He    was 

an    adept    in    the    re-presentation    of  the  life   of  the 

immediate    past    as  seen  in    India  or  France,  while 

the    stirring   events   of  his    own    time    but    served 

to   interpret  all   the   more  clearly  what  had  always 

transpired. 

His  description  of  the  desolations  wrought  by  the 

wicked  policy  of  Hastings,  of  the  descent  of  Hyder 
AH  upon  the  Carnatic  or  of  the  evils  attendant  upon 
popular  revolution,  take  their  place  as  literary  ef- 
forts by  the  side  of  Hugo's  Waterloo  or  Wallace's 
Vesuvius. 

Some  of  these  passages  are  full  of  a  genuine  pathos 
and  while  arousing  righteous  indignation  against  the 
oppressed,  awaken  sympathy  for  the  suffering.  In 
fine,  there  is  in  the  prose  of  Burke  in  addition  to 
vigor  and  dignity  and  practical  aim  a  kind  of  de- 
scriptive richness  of  phrase  and  form — a  comprehen- 
siveness of  style  that  includes  the  various  forms  of 
imagery  and  irony,  of  pathos  and  poetic  power. 
Morley  speaks  of  the  "  varieties  of  Burke's  literary 
methods."  Such  varieties  are  mainly  seen  within 
the  sphere  of  the  illustrative  and  pictorial,  in  wealth 
of  diction  and  rhetorical  structure  and  in  that  flexible 
aptness  by  which  he  was  able  to  adapt  himself  and 
his  subject  to  the  exigencies  of  the  hour.  Too  sober- 
minded  in  his  style  to  indulge  in  the  expression  of 
much  humor  and  too  impassioned,  at  times,  to  avoid 
violations  of  phrase  and  sentence  structure,  he  still 


358  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

succeeded  in  exhibiting  all  the  substantial  qualities 
of  the  best  prose  style. 

We  note,    in  closing,    the  main  defect  of  Burke's 
prose. 

(5.)  The  Lack  of  Literary  Finish. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  the  critics  of  Burke  are 
most  on  the  alert  and  most  hostile.  Even  by  those 
who  concede  all  the  other  qualities  referred  to,  this 
one  of  finish  is  questioned  or  flatly  denied  as  exist- 
ing. The  origin  of  this  current  view  is  undoubtedly 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  prose  of  Burke  is  specially 
forensic  or  political.  As  such,  it  is  oratorical,  it  is 
argued,  as  distinct  from  being  literary;  the  prose  of 
the  parliament  and  hustings  rather  than  that  of  the 
study  and  library.  The  theory  here  is  that  the 
terms — oratorical  and  finished — as  applied  to  prose 
production  are  in  a  sense  exclusive  of  each  other; 
that  a  style  which  is  specially  forensic  is  thereby 
less  apt  to  be  marked  by  excellence  of  form.  There 
is  some  degree  of  truth  in  all  this  and,  yet,  care 
must  be  taken  lest  the  criticism  be  pushed  to  an 
extreme. 

It  must  be  conceded  that  Burke's  prose  as  being 
essentially  political  is  thereby  less  marked  by  grace 
and  elegance  than  by  some  other  qualities — that  it 
cannot  in  this  respect,  be  at  all  compared  with  Addi- 
son's or  Macaulay's,  with  Lamb's  or  De  Quincey's 
and  more  nearly  resembles  the  controversial  style  of 
Milton  in  his  vigorous  state  pamphlets.  This  is  so, 
and  yet  it  is  very  much  to  be  questioned  whether 
Burke  himself  would  have  had  it  otherwise.     Poetio 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS  —BURKE.         3-39 

finish  of  prose  forms  was  in  no  sense  to  bis  purpose. 
The  practical  character  of  his  writings  forbade  it  nor 
would  he  have  surrendered  the  greater  good  for  tbe 
lesser.  If  in  order  to  its  securing,  he  must  yield  one 
iota  of  his  cogent  manner,  he  was  unwilling  to  make 
the  sacrifice.  As  we  have  seen,  he  had  no  time  for 
the  mere  embellishment  of  word  and  paragraph  but 
must  speak  "  right  on"  as  "  a  plain,  blunt  man." 

His  literary  theory  was  all  in  the  direction  that 
there  were  some  things  infinitely  better  than  literary 
finish.  Hence,  his  very  figures  and  illustrations  were 
homely,  and  often,  crude  and  harsh.  At  whatever 
cost,  he  must  secure  an  impressive  form  of  statement. 
This  was,  often,  at  the  expense  of  verbal  nicety  and 
neatness. 

In  his  essay  on — The  Sublime  and  Beautiful — he 
teaches  that  strength  and  beauty  do  not  coincide  and 
he  prefers  the  former.  If  in  describing  the  Duke  of 
Bedford  or  the  chief  actors  in  the  French  Revolution, 
delicacy  and  refinement  of  taste  stand  in  the  way  of 
his  meaning,  then  taste  must  take  care  of  itself  and 
the  truth  be  told  in  pungent  form.  It  is  just  here 
that  he  often  violates  propriety,  and  yet,  how  could 
we  spare  the  words  that  follow  such  a  violation.  As 
Minto  aptly  states  at  this  point,  "Taste  is  certainly 
not  the  special  virtue  of  English  Literature."  Burke 
in  this  respect  is  a  Puritan  and  a  Saxon.  He  talks 
as  Fuller  and  Bunyan,  Bede  and  Alfred  talked,  quite 
irrespective  of  the  elegance  of  the  phrase. 

That  the  critics  are  right  in  calling  this  a  defect  no 
one  will  question.  That  they  are  right  in  so  magni- 
fying it  as  to  make  it  a  criminal  offense  on  Burke's 
part   and    an   insuperable    objection    to   placing   his 


3G0  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

prose  in  the  first  rank,  is  altogether  questionable. 
Despite  his  want  of  grace  of  touch,  he  is  at  the  very- 
front  of  our  English  prosers  and  gains  in  effective- 
ness where  he  loses  in  elegance.  More  than  this, 
had  he  written  as  Addison  or  Dickens  wrote,  his 
prose  would  have  perished  with  the  events  that 
called  it  forth.  Critics  must  deal  with  him  where  he 
invites  scrutiny — at  his  strongest  points  as  a  writer 
and  not  at  a  point  where  he  makes  no  pretense  to 
special  excellence.  Bacon  and  Burke  have  been 
compared,  intellectually.  They  are,  also,  similar  in 
their  prose  style  in  this — that  cogency  of  statement 
must  at  all  hazards  be  secured.  With  them,  expres- 
sion is  for  impression. 

It  is  interesting  and  also  a  matter  of  justice  to  note 
in  this  connection,  that  in  the  wider  sense  of  the 
word,  Burke's  style  had  a  degree  of  literary  quality. 
His  scrupulous  care  in  the  composition  of  his  writ- 
ings is  well  known. 

So  literary,  indeed,  were  his  speeches  that  the  in- 
difference of  the  members  of  Parliament  at  their 
delivery  is  thus  explained.  We  are  told  that  they 
read  better  than  they  sounded.  The  early  attractions 
of  literature  for  him  are  a  matter  of  history  to  the 
extent  that  he  seriously  proposed  to  make  it  his 
sphere  of  activity  in  life.  His  fondness  for  reading 
was  intense,  and  the  information  he  gathered  was  of 
such  extent  as  to  qualify  him  for  the  compilation  of 
The  Annual  Register.  He  spoke  of  Spenser  and  the 
Liter  poets  with  the  freedom  of  intimate  friendship. 
His  neglect  of  prescribed  study  while  at  Trinity  for 
the  more  pleasing  pursuits  of  letters  is  not  questioned, 
and  even  at  the  Temple  in  the  nominal  study  of  the 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — BURKE.         3G1 

law,  he  was  really  engaged  in  storing  his  mind  with 
useful  information  outside  of  Digests  and  Commen- 
taries. In  happy  connection  with  all  this  is  the 
account  that  we  have  of  his  literary  associates.  At 
the  famous  Turk's  Head,  he  was  one  of  the  habitual 
guests.  With  Robertson,  the  historian,  and  Garrick, 
the  actor  he  was  intimate.  He  knew  Gibbon  and 
Reynolds,  Goldsmith  and  Johnson,  as  literary  friends 
and  helpers,  and  was  attached  to  some  of  them  by  a 
passionate  devotion.  He  never' left  the  society  of 
these  masters  of  letters  even  after  he  had  formally 
abandoned  letters  for  the  stirring  life  of  politics. 

So  decided  was  he  in  his  literary  tastes  and  abili- 
ties that  The  Letters  of  Junius,  now  attributed  to  Sir 
Philip  Francis  were  credited  to  him  until  he  solemnly 
avowed  that  he  was  not  their  author.  He  prided 
himself  on  basing  his  style  upon  the  best  literary 
models  of  England  and  France.  In  fine,  If  he  had 
not  the  element  of  literary  grace  in  his  prose,  he  had 
his  full  share  of  literary  taste  and  tendency  in  his 
nature. 

Had  he  not  abandoned  the  literary  life  proper  for 
a  more  public  sphere  and  service,  these  tendencies 
would  have  been  developed  in  a  different  direction 
and  he  might  have  given  us  epics  and  histories  in  the 
place  of  fiery  pamphlets  on  revolution  and  reform. 

IIo  made  a  deliberate  choice,  however,  in  favor  of 
politics  and  presents  a  prominent  example  in  English 
Letters  of  the  author  in  Parliament.  Unlike  Bacon 
and  Milton  and  Addison  and  Lamb  and  Macaulav, 
lie  subordinated  literature  to  the  offices  of  state  and, 
yet  withal,  maintained  his  reputation  as  an  English 
writer.     As  a  man  and  an  author  he  has  left  an  indel- 


3G2  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

"ble  impression  on  English  Letters.  He  was  great  in 
his  unique  personality  and  great  in  the  emotive  seri- 
ousness of  his  prose.  Whenever  students  of  character 
may  desire  to  see  the  embodiment  of  nobility  and  un- 
seliishuess  in  human  uature;  whenever  students  of 
political  science  and  public  questions  may  desire  to 
see  measures  and  maxims  of  wide  legislative  reach, 
and  whenever  students  of  English  Style  may  desire 
to  see  an  example  of  impassioned,  manly,  sober  and 
practical  prose  second  to  no  other  in  our  literary  an- 
nals, they  must  giye  their  attention  to  the  writings 
of  Burke — a  man  who  thought  as  he  pleased  and 
spoke  and  wrote  as  he  thought  and  whose  separate 
presence  in  any  era  is  enough  to  give  it  permanent 
renown  in  history. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Prior's  Life  of  Burke.  Macaulay's  Essays.  Mor- 
ley's  Burke  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.).  Maurice's  Friend- 
ship of  Books.     Croly's  Historical  Sketches. 


CHAPTER  VIIT. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  CHABLES  LAMB. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born,  Feb.  18th,  1775,  in  London.  Was  educated 
at  Christ's  Hospital.  Thence,  to  the  South  Sea 
House.  A  Clerk  in  the  India  House,  1792.  Retired 
with  Pension  in  1825.  Died  in  London,  Dec.  27th. 
1834. 

His  Prose  Writings. 

Lamb  was  not  a  voluminous  writer  either  of  verse 
or  prose. 

As  far  as  his  poetry  is  concerned,  it  is  of  indifferent 
merit  and  we  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  De  Quincey's 
remark  '•''that  Lamb  had  the  dramatic  intellect  and 
taste,  perhaps,  in  perfection,"  save  as  we  interpret 
this  language  in  reference  to  Lamb's  ability  as  a 
critic  of  the  drama.  In  fact,  poetry  was  not  his 
favorite  work.  As  he  sends  his  sonnets  to  Coleridge 
he  says  with  some  degree  of  spirit,  "  Take  them,  for 
they  tempt  me  to  go  on  with  the  idle  trade  of  versify- 
ing which  I  long  to  leave  off,  for  it  is  unprofitable  to 
my  soul."  In  the  Essays  of  Elia  he  speaks  of  "  his 
proper  element  of  prose." 

liven  here,  the  actual  amount,  of  literary  product 
is  somewhat  limited  as  eompared  with  the  essayists 


364  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  the  Augustan  era.  As  far  as  our  purpose  Is  con- 
cerned, we  have  to  do  with — The  Essays  of  Elia, 
Sjoecimens  of  Dramatists,  Miscellaneous  Essays,  Rosa- 
mond,  and  with  his  Letters. 

As  to  any  partial  Defects  of  Style  which  critics 
have  noted  we  may   mention: 

PARTIAL   DEFECTS   OF    STYLE. 

(1.)  Diction  and  Structure. 

Despite  the  general  excellence  of  the  author's  style 
at  this  point,  there  is  something,  it  is  true,  to  rebuke 
and  correct. 

The  frequency  of  complex  parenthesis  is  noticeable. 
In  this  regard,  Lamb  is  not  as  discreet  as  Swift,  who 
under  the  cover  of  digressions,  included  all  the  in- 
direct material  that  he  wished  to  use,  and  yet  pre- 
served intact  the  unity  of  the  thought.  As  to  diction 
it  is,  at  times,  difficult  we  confess  to  draw  the  line 
between  humorous  and  sober  phraseology.  Many 
phrases  in  themselves  improper  seem  to  be  used  for 
purposes  of  wit.  Tis  thus  that  he  speaks  of  "  day- 
mare  "  as  well  as  night-mare;  of  the  "knock-eternal" 
rather  than  nocturnal;  of  clergy-gentlemanly;  of  loco- 
restive;  of  a  man  as  parson-ish  and  of  the  non-senso- 
riuin.  Apart  from  such  doubtful  usage,  moreover, 
there  is  too  much  liberty  of  coinage  until  a  literary 
habit  of  verbal  looseness  seems  to  be  formed.  Thus, 
we  have — unplain,  discapacitate,  disputaciousness, 
enugify,  and  similar  barbarisms. 

It  is  to  be  noted  here  that  Lamb's  fondness  for  the 
older  authors  and  his  constant  tendency  to  the  serio- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— LAMB.  3G5 

comic  somewhat  affected  his  diction,  and  not  always 
for  the  better.  Had  he  written  far  more  than  he  did 
his  prose  in  this  respect  would  have  been  improved. 
In  the  main,  however,  the  diction  and  structure  are 
of  merit.  They  are  so  thoroughly  in  keeping  with 
the  author's  individuality  that  they  must  be  judged  in 
that  light.  In  many  of  his  critical  essays  such  as — 
The  Tragedies  of  Shakespeare — his  vocabulary  in  rich- 
ness and  compass  is  of  the  very  first  order,  while  in 
his  lighter  humorous  papers,  the  facile  use  of  English 
is  worthy  of  the  best  prose  writers  of  our  literature. 
It  is  extreme  criticism  to  insist  that  the  diction  is 
interior  by  reason  of  those  few  examples  which  mark 
a  departure  from  verbal  propriety. 

(2.)  Aba^nc:  of  Logical  Development. 

This  defect  has,  also,  been  noted  and  with  some 
reason.  There  is  needed,  it  is  said,  the  presence  of  a 
central  idea  definitely  wrought  out  and  applied. 

When  Lamb  wrote  to  Coleridge  "Cultivate  sim- 
plicitly,  or  rather,  I  should  say,  banish  elaborateness," 
he  stated  a  principle  true  in  itself  yet  needing  ex- 
planation. True  simplicity  is  perfectly  compatible 
with  "  elaborateness ''  and  should  so  be  related  in 
prose  discourse.  Lamb,  we  are  told,  goes  to  the 
opposite  extreme  and  is  simple  at  the  expense  of  thor- 
oughness:. Even  in  Elia  the  style  is,  thus,  epistolary 
and  colloquial  as  well  as  in  the  Letters.  There  is 
not  enough  of  the  philosophical  and  consecutive. 

It  is  this  special  point  on  which  De  Quincey  dwells 
in  his  criticism  of  Lamb.  He  speaks  of  a  want  of 
continuity;   refers  to   him   as   discontinuous,   abrupt 


3G6  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

and  capricious.  Tn  the  suggestive  language  of  Cole- 
ridge, lie  is  "non-sequacious."  A  two-fold  explana- 
tion of  this  defect  is  given  in,  the  infringement  made 
upon  the  author s  time  by  the  constant  visitation  of 
friends,  leading  to  the  habit  of  snatching  at  learning 
by  fragments  and,  also,  in  the  fact  that  it  was  a  mode 
of  composition  quite  in  harmony  with  the  unsettled 
tendencies  of  his  mind.  Be  this  as  it  may,  "the  non- 
sequaciousness"  is  too  apparent,  and  is  rightly  em- 
phasized by  the  critics.  Perhaps  his  early  experience 
in  newspaper  writing  led  to  this  style  of  English 
which  his  latest  biographer  terms — "eclectic."  The 
style  is  often  fragmentary  and  transitional,  full  of 
discursive  sketches  and  ramblings  even  where  a  line 
of  reflection  more  or  less  sustained  would  be  in  order. 
It  is  thus  that  his  biographer  cautions  us — "  If  an 
essay  is  headed — Oxford  in  the  Vacation — we  must 
not  complain  that  only  half  the  paper  touches  on 
Oxford,  and  that  the  rest  is  divided  between  the 
writer  Elia  and  a  certain  absent-minded  old  scholar, 
George  Dyer,  on  whose  peculiarities  Lamb  was  never 
tired  of  dwelling." 

This  being  so,  it  is  maintained  that  it  is  in  the 
light  of  other  tests  and  canons  of  criticism  that  Lamb 
is  to  be  judged  and  commended.  Whatever  he  is  in 
the  line  of  literary  merit,  he  cannot  be  called  a 
mentally  vigorous  writer  as  Milton  was.  Allusion  has 
been  made  to  some  possible  explanations  of  this 
defect.  The  real  one  has  not,  as  yet,  been  stated. 
It  is  this.  Lamb  was  a  pronounced  advocate  of  the 
natural  method  of  writing  as  distinct  from  any 
method  based  on  prescribed  literary  law.  He  rather 
boasted  in  having  no  style  or  method,  writing  what 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— LAMB,  3C7 

and  how  he  pleased,  doing  in  prose  what  Shakespeare 
is  i-epresented  by  Milton  as  doing  in  poetry — "  warb- 
ling his  native  wood-notes  wild."  On  this  theory, 
false  as  it  is,  Lamb  gains  something,  perhaps,  in  the 
way  of  apparent  naturalness  or  freedom  of  style,  but 
loses  greatly  in  the  way  of  strength,  solidity  and  true 
literary  effect.  No  man  can  afford  to  decry  thor- 
oughness by  arguing  superficially  or  decry  method 
by  writing  immethodically.  The  purely  "natural 
school"  in  every  sphere  is  its  own  sufficient  answer. 
Admitting  all  this,  we  shall  find  however,  that  this 
unrestrained  manner  was  germane  to  the  author's 
habit  and  personality  and  that  he  could  not  have 
succeeded  as  well  as  he  did  on  any  other  principle. 

He  did  not  pretend  to  present  a  Baconian  style  and 
the  critics  have  overreached  themselves  in  protesting 
that  Lamb  must  write  as  some  others  wrote.  In 
fact,  he  made  it  a  point  to  break  away  from  the  older 
school  as  to  method.  Mr.  Taine  reaches  a  better 
result  here  when  he  maintains  that  Lamb  aimed  to 
destroy  "  the  great  aristocratical  style  as  it  sprang 
from  methodical  analyses  and  court  conventions." 
This  want  of  logical  order  is  a  fault.  It  is  so  in 
Lamb,  but  in  him  not  a  great  fault  as  thereby  he 
expressed  himself  and  yet  kept  within  the  limits  of  a 
general  method.  To  bind  him  to  any  rigorous  pre- 
arranged plan  would  be  simply  to  rob  him  of  his 
personality  as  a  writer,  and  of  those  elements  of  style 
which  now  endear  him  to  the  reading  public.  Such 
a  free-hand  style  is  in  its  place  as  useful  as  a  more 
rigid  one  and  serves  to  vary  that  wearisome  monotony 
which  would  result"  from  the  exclusive  presence  of  a 
more  philosophic  method. 


368  ENGLISH   PROSE. 


(3.)  Want  of  Permanent  Literary  Effect. 

This  defect,  in  so  far  as  it  is  found,  is  the  inevitable 
result  of  the  one  just  stated.  It  is  not  within  the 
author's  mental  possibilities  to  found  a  separate 
school  of  literature  nor  is  his  style,  at  its  best, 
dominant  and  shaping.  He  was  not  meant  to  be  a 
leader  or  reformer.  As  far  as  his  life  is  revealed  and 
his  writings  indicate,  he  never  had  as  an  author  any 
high  ethical  end  to  accomplish  as  Bacon  and  Johnson 
had.  He  accepted  the  condition  of  things  as  he  found 
them  and  made  no  sustained  endeavor  to  modify 
them.  His  writings  are  subjective  and  devoid  of  the 
aggressive  and  polemic  element.  After  the  perusal 
of  his  works,  we  stand  just  where  we  stood  before 
relative  to  the  great  questions  of  church  and  state. 
As  we  shall  see,  all  this  had  some  purpose  in  it  and 
such  a  man  was  needed  to  relieve  the  people  from 
the  rigid  methods  of  Baconian  days  or  the  moralistic 
nobriety  of  Augustan  times  and  put  the  world  in 
good  humor.  A  softer  and  more  desultory  method 
was  demanded  and  the  need  was  supplied  in  the 
prose  of  Lamb.  By  this  it  is  not  meant  that  we  find 
in  Lamb  a  style  devoid  of  morale. 

In  the  centre  of  his  character  he  was  a  serious 
minded  man.  His  better  nature  was  on  the  side  of 
the  right  and  the  good.  His  spirit  was  in  harmony 
with  what  was  fine  and  exalted.  All  this  conceded, 
there  is  the  lack  of  what  Chalmers  would  call  "  the 
expulsive  power  "  of  moral  character — a  strong,  per- 
manent, ethical  impression.  His  nature  was  of  the 
subdued  rather  than  of  the  positive  order.     There  is 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS— LAMB.  369 

a  large  element  of  the  Melanctkou  in  his  style  and 
little  of  the  Luther.  It  is  still  true  that  his  prose  is 
read  more  for  its  cheeriness  and  good-nature  than  for 
any  result  in  the  line  of  permanent  moral  good. 

Talfourd,  his  biographer,  states  it  exactly  as  he 
says — "  Of  all  modern  writers  his  works  are  most 
immediately  directed  to  give  us  heart-ease  and  to 
make  us  happy."  This  language  indicates  the  merit 
and,  also,  marks  the  deficiency  of  the  author's  prose 
and  prose  style. 

In  noting  the  more  positive  and  promising  merits 
of  his  style,  we  remark — 

PROMISING   MERITS   OF  STYLE. 

(1.)  Its  English  Character  and  Spirit. 

No  prose  writer  of  England  has  ever  been  more 
deeply  interested  in  English  Letters  and,  especially,  in 
its  earlier  and  quainter  forms.  In  his  tragedy  of  Wood- 
vil,  he  refers  to  his — "  Sweet  Mother  Tongue,  Old  En- 
glish Speech."  To  Mary,  his  sister,  he  says,  "  that  they 
were  tumbled  early  by  accident  or  design  into  a 
spacious  closet  of  good  Old  English  reading,  without 
much  objection  or  prohibition  and  browsed  at  will 
upon  that  fair  and  wholesome  pasturage."  As  the 
natural  result  of  such  a  "  browsing"  he  gave  to  the 
English  Public  his  "Specimens  of  the  English  Dram- 
atists contemporary  with  Shakespeare."  These  were 
so  attractive  as  to  be  called  "the  quintessence  of 
criticism."  All  through  his  style,  we  note  the  in- 
forming presence  of  the  older  authors;  an  ardent 
devotion  to  their  words  and  ways  and  a  sacred  pur- 
pose to  restore    them,  .if  possible,    to  their  rightful 


370  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

place  in  Modern  English  Letters.     The  pages  of  his 
prose  are  aptly  marked  by  references  to  the  earlier 
times.       In    a    characteristic    letter    to    Coleridge    in 
which  he  is  using  all  his  influence  to  persuade  him  to 
concentrate    his    genius   upon    the  production  of  an 
epic,  he  adjures  him  to  do  it  "  by  the  sacred  energies 
of  Milton"  and  the  irsWeet  and  soothing  fantasies  of 
Spenser."     He  speaks  of  the  "graceful  rambling"  of 
Cowley  in   his  essays  and  of  "the  courtly  elegance 
and    ease"    of  Addison.     Of  the  names   of  old    Kit 
Marlowe,    of   Drayton   and    of  Drummond   of  EJaw- 
thornden    he  writes,  that  they  cany  perfume  in  the 
very  mention  of  them.   Sydney,  Taylor,  Fuller,  Browne, 
De  Foe  and  Walton  are  each  in  turn  the  subject  of 
just  and  fervid  eulogium.     In  the  presence  of  Shake- 
speare he  is  fairly  overawed  and  pretends  to  nothing 
jftore  than  the  barest  outline  of  his  dramatic  wealth. 
He    speaks    reverentially    of  his  "  divine  mind  and 
manners,"  and  calls  him,  most  fittingly,  "the  immeas- 
urable."    With  the  aid  of  his  sister,  he  gives  to  the 
children  of  the  country  an    edition    of  Shakespeare 
suitable  to  their  needs  and    as    a    stimulus   to  their 
mental    life.     As    literary  historians  have  noted,  all 
this  was  at  a  time  when  Shakespeare  and  the  earlier 
English  authors  were  comparatively  unstudied  save 
by  a  chosen  few.     It  was  the  inborn  and  cherished 
love  of  his  native  language  that  impelled  Lamb  to 
open  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen,  old  and  young,  to 
the    excellence    of   what    had   preceded.     It   is    this 
which  as  much  as  anything  else  gave  to  his  style  that 
racy,  homelike  element  which  made  it  readable  then 
and  preserves  it  as  in  amber  now.      It  is  thus  that 
Lamb  is  to  be  classified  in  English  Prose  with  Milton 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— LAMB  371 

and  Swift,  with  Dryden,  Addison  and  Johnson  as  a 
special  lover  of  English.  His  style  is  a  home  product 
and  exponent. 

(2.)  Humorous  Element. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  we  come  in  contact  with 
the  innermost  nature  of  Lamb  as  a  man  and  as  a 
■writer. 

It  was  this  feature  especially  that  made  his  in- 
tercourse with  Southey  and  Coleridge,  Hazlitt  and 
Wordsworth  so  intensely  enjoyable  that  they  in  love 
with  the  country  and  he  with  the  city  were  never  at 
rest  in  presenting  reasons  why  they  should  live  to- 
gether. This  feature  of  style  is  but  the  reflex  of 
the  author's  face  with  its  roguish  playfulness  and 
serio-comic  cast — a  face  full  of  the  evidences  of  old- 
fashioned  mother-wit.  Mis  face  is  always  promising 
good  things.  With  his  long-drawn  visage  and  cler- 
ical tie  he  seems  as  sombre  as  a  parson  and,  yet, 
there  is  something  under  the  eyelids  and  about  the 
mouth  that  warns  one  to  loosen  his  bands  and  pre- 
pare for  a  constitutional  shake.  As  the  expression 
of  this  inside  humor  we  note  some  specimens — "On 
Burial  Societies  and  Undertakers;"'' On  The  Incon- 
venience of  Being  Hanged";  "On  The  Melancholy  of 
Tailors"  caused  by  their  sedentary  habits;  and  "On 
The  Convalescent,"  a  man  who  on  his  bed  changes 
sides  ofteuer  than  a  politician.  The  bed  is  "a  wavy, 
oceanic  surface  whose  every  furrow  is  an  historical 
record  of  some  shifting  fortune.  Now,  he  lies  at  half 
length;  now,  at  full  length;  now,  obliquely;  now, 
transversely  and  none  accuses  him  of  tergiversation." 


372  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

On  being  asked  by  an  editor  for  a  magazine  article 
he    replies — "  In    Articulo    Mortis."      To    Woods,   he 
speaks  of  an  entertaining  gentleman  who  had  retired 
to  a  green  old  age  on  forty  pounds  a  year  and  one. 
When  suffering  from  a  distressing  cold,  he  writes  to 
Barton  "that  he  can't  distinguish  veal  from  mutton; 
has  not  volition  enough  to    dot    his    i's,"    and    adds 
"  that  if  we  should  tell  him  that  the  world  will  be  at 
an  end  to-morrow,   he   would   reply — Will  it?"     He 
speaks  of  the  two  distinct  races  into   which  men  are 
divided — the    borrowers   and     the    lenders.     In     his 
chapter  on — Ears — he  tells  us,  that  he  has  been  prac- 
ticing.— God  save  the  King — all  his  life,  whistling  and 
humming  it  over  in  solitary  corners  and  has  not  yet 
arrived  in  many  quavers  of  it.      Fie  tells  us  that  he 
has  been  trying,  all  his  life,   to  like  Scotchmen  but 
gives  up  the  experiment  in  despair.      In  his  article 
on  "  Grace  before  Meat"  he  accounts  for  the  origin  of 
it  in  days  of  monastic  life    when    a    belly  full  was  a 
windfall  and  regarded  as  a  .special  providence.     In 
his  "Bachelor's  Complaint,"  and  "  Popular  Fallacies," 
the  same  pleasantry   prevails.     In  his  "Dissertation 
on  Koast  Pig,"  the  climax  of  wit  is  reached  and  the 
buttons  all  fly.     In    fine,  the    humor  is  all  genuine 
humor,    is    pervasive    rather  than  occasional.     Some 
of  his  papers  surpass  the  others  in  this  quality  and, 
yet,  it    is  quite  unnecessary  to  choose.     Among  all 
the  leading  English  Essayists  there  is  none  in   whom 
humor  is  so  much  an  essential  part  of  the  man  and 
of  his  style.     This  omitted,  the  distinctive  peculiarity 
of  Lamb  is  missed.     Let  the  topic  be  what  it  may, 
there  is  no  cessation   of  the  mirthful  jollity.     He  is 
as  lull  of  it  as  an  a^^  is  of  meat  or  as  a  spring  is  of 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— LAMB.  373 

water.  It  must  flow  and  overflow.  Hence  it  is, 
that  Gerald  Massey  and  others  have  pronounced  him 
the  first  English  Humorist  and  placed  his  style  in 
this  element  at  the  head.  In  his  Preface  to  the 
second  series  of  the — Essays  of  Elia — he  speaks  of 
himself  in  the  third  person  as  follows — "He  would 
interrupt  the  gravest  discussion  with  some  light 
jest."  He  could  not  restrain  himself  nor  did  he 
care  to. 

He  did  what  Burns  did  in  poetry — gave  vent  to 
his  inner  self.  The  reference  of  Carlyle  to  Lamb's 
wit  as  "  make-believe  "  is  as  far  as  anything  could  be 
from  the  truth,  and  is  but  one  specimen  among  many 
of  Carlyle's  one-sided  opinions. 

There  is  one  feature  in  the  pleasantry  of  Lamb 
that  needs  emphasis.  It  is  his  partial  or  confirmed 
sadness.  In  this  particular,  he  reminds  one  of  Gold- 
smith, Hood,  Sterne,  Burns  and  other  less  gifted 
authors.  The  close  relation  of  smiles  to  tears  is  no- 
where more  manifest  than  in  humor.  Even  where 
the  element  of  positive  sadness  does  not  enter,  (here 
is  more  or  less  of  sobriety  and  sudden  transition  to 
seriousness  in  most  humorists.  The  less  of  this  there 
is,  however,  the  more  healthful  is  the  humor.  This 
in  Lamb's  case  was  excessive,  at  times,  and  it  is  the 
only  feature  that  would  cause  one  to  question  his  po- 
sition as  first  among  English  Humorists.  It  is  quite 
possible  to  prove,  we  think,  that  the  humor  of  Dick- 
ens, Thackeray,  Sidney  Smith  and  other  kindred  prose 
writers  is  a  higher  type  than  that  species  which  so 
draws  upon  our  sympathies  as,  at  times,  to  be  painful. 
The  end  of  true  humor  is  pleasure.  A  certain  degree 
of  sensibility  is  essential  to  it,  but  when  wholesome 


374  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

sobriety  develops  into  sadness  and  our  feelings  are 
enlisted  so  deeply  as  to  occasion  pain,  humor  over- 
reaches itself  and  misses  its  end.  Just  as  the  enjoy- 
ment of  beauty  cannot  admit  of  the  element  of  terror 
so  that  of  humor  excludes  confirmed  sadness.  His 
latest  biographer,  Mr.  Ainger,  speaks  of  this  quality 
as  belonging  "  to  the  profound  humanity  of  its  author; 
to  the  circumstance  that  with  him,  as  with  all  true 
humorists,  humor  was  but  one  side  of  an  acute  and 
almost  painful  sympathy."  Very  true,  if  the  sympathy 
is  " almost "  and  not  altogether  "painful."  Sympathy 
is  one  thing,  Personal  Suffering,  is  another.  This 
tendency  to  the  morbid  apart,  the  prose  of  Lamb 
is  a  representative  example  of  humorous  prose. 
When  he  was  in  the  best  mood,  and  most  free 
from  that  mental  waywardness  that  so  marred  his 
life,  his  humor  had  no  superior  in  English  Prose 
and  it  is  in  these  hours  that  he  is  to  be  tested  and 
enjoyed. 

He  had  the  root  and  essence  of  humor  in  the 
kindliness  of  his  spirit.  He  was  more  than  a  wit 
or  a  punster.  Fie  could  not  indulge  in  that  cruel 
sarcasm  in  which  Swift  so  freely  indulged.  He 
was  full  of  that  humanity  which  Thackeray  empha- 
sizes as  the  basis  of  humor.  Though  he  says  of  him- 
self— "  that  he  too  much  affected  that  dangerous 
figure — irony,"  his  satire  was  always  tempered  with 
good  will.  He  "laughed  with  men"  and  not  "at 
them."  Fie  protested  that  "he  never  could  hate  any 
one  whom  he  knew."  The  epithet  "gentle"  so  often 
applied  to  his  name  was  well  deserved.  Worcester's 
definition  of  humor  as — "kindly  pleasantry" — marks 
the  special  excellence  of  his. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— LAMB.  375 


(3.)  Naturalness  and  Flexibility. 

Here  again  we  strike  one  of  the  great  features  of 
the  author's  prose. 

The  epithet  "delightful  "  as  used  by  critics  of  his 
style,  finds  its  justification  here.  There  was  a  certain 
felicity  of  expression  and  general  literary  manner 
that  won  its  way  as  it  went  on  and  makes  it  a  diffi- 
cult matter  to  lay  aside  the  reading  of  his  papers. 
It  is  for  this  reason  in  connection  with  their  hu- 
morous element  that — The  Essays  of  Elia — have  so 
charmed  the  English-reading  public.  All  critics 
have  spoken  of  a  certain  indescribable  something 
about  the  style  of  Lamb.  As  Ainger  states,  "It 
evades  analysis.  One  might  as  well  seek  to  account 
for  the  perfume  of  lavender  or  the  flavor  of  quince." 
There  is  a  kind  of  witchery  or  fascination  about  ife 
that  attracts  and  entertains  us  and  we  ourselves  are 
at  a  loss  to  know  why  we  are  so  interested.  Other 
essayists  have  had  a  larger  circle  of  readers  but  few 
have  had  a  more  devoted  circle.  Those  of  his  own 
and  succeeding  times  speak  of  him  in  terms  of  per- 
sonal affection.  They  forget  the  author  in  the  man, 
or  rather  in  accordance  with  the  experience  of  Pascal, 
in  looking  for  an  author  they  find  a  man — "gentle- 
hearted"  and  broad-souled.  If  asked  on  what  basis 
this  attractiveness  of  style  rests,  it  must  be  found  in 
its  Naturalness.  No  writer  has  ever  been  himself 
more  than  Lamb  was  Lamb.  He  was  ingenuous  to 
a  fault,  and  often  lays  his  style  open  to  vindictive 
criticism  by  reason  of  his  unstudied  artlessness.  He 
loved  the  Confessions  of  Rosseau.  not  because  they 


376  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

were  Rousseau's  but  because  they  were  Confessions — 
the  natural  outburst  of  the  heart.  He  preferred  the 
style  of  Temple  to  that  of  Shaftesbury  because  it 
was  "plain,  natural  chit-chat,"  and  not  formal  or 
courtly. 

Critics  who  have  failed  to  see  into  the  interior  of 
his  character  have  accused  him  of  egotism  in  its  more 
extreme  forms.     They  have  called   attention    to    the 
first  personal  pronoun  in  his  writings  and  contrasted 
him  unfavorably  with   other  essayists  at  this  point. 
In  this  judgment  they  have  widely  missed  the  mark 
and  failed  to  discern  one  of  the  very  secrets  of  the 
author's  power — his  intense  personality,  of  which  his 
naturalness   is   but  the   expression   in  form.     As  he 
says  himself,  "  He  would  out  with  what  came  upper- 
most,"  and  was  grave  or  gay,  imaginative  or  plain  as 
the   case    might  be.     He  had  no  particular  method 
applicable  at  all  times  but  in  the  best  sense  was  a 
writer  at  large,  freely  descanting  in  his  own   natural 
way  upon  the  topic  of  the  time.      Hence,  the  variety 
and  flexibility   of   the   style.     It    is    absolutely   free 
from  the  literary  vice  of  sameness.     There  is  nothing 
stilted  or  made  to  order — nothing  so  fixed   as  not  to 
be  capable  of  change.     As  we  have  seen,  this  ten- 
dency,  at  times,   degenerated  to   illogical  rambling, 
but  when  at  all  under  control,  took  the  form    of  a 
pleasing  variety  and  vivacity.     "  Few  English  writers 
have  written  so  differently,"  says  one,   "  on  different 
themes."     The  manner  is  versatile  and  free  so  that 
where  we  lose  in  logical  directness  we  gain  in  diver- 
sity and  area. 

Reference  has  often  been  made  to  the  author's  apt 
and   frequent   use  of  quotations  from  those    English 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— LAMB.  377 

authors  whom  he  so  much  loved — from  Browne  aud 
Burton;  from  Shakespeare  and  the  dramatists;  from 
Wordsworth  and  Milton.  This  habit  is  characteristic 
aud  yet  nowhere  is  he  more  natural  and  nowhere  is 
the  literary  richness  of  his  style  more  marked.  In 
his  quotations  no  one  ever  thinks  of  literary  ser- 
vility or  base  imitation.  There  was  not  the  semblance 
of  this.  So  far  from  it  that  he  seemed  to  lend  to  the 
references  he  selected  the  character  and  charm  of  his 
own  personality.  This  in  itself  is  an  art,  but  an  art 
founded  in  nature  and  not  feasible  apart  from  it.  He 
individualized  and  made  his  own  whatever  he  used. 
He  was  an  author  of  unusually  wide  knowledge  of 
earlier  and  contemporary  literature.  No  one  was 
more  conversant  with  the  best  that  had  been  written 
or  could  better  appreciate  it.  He  tells  us  in  his  essay 
on — Books  and  Reading — that  he  could  read  anything- 
which  he  called  a  book.  Where  others  were  ignorant 
he  was  informed,  and  spoke  of  English  authors  with 
the  ardor  of  a  lover — as  of  Burns  and  Walton, 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  All  this  made  it  easy  for 
him  to  quote  and,  if  convenient,  to  appropriate,  while 
the  tact  that  he  quoted  without  appropriating  but  re- 
veals all  the  clearer  the  naturalness  of  his  style.  It 
is  in  this  feature  of  style  that  Lamb's  descriptive 
power  appears.  What  he  felt  and  saw  he  could  tell 
just  as  it  was.  Other  essayists  have  surpassed  him 
in  delineative  skill  and  reach.  As  far,  however,  aa 
•naturalness  of  description  is  concerned,  he  has  had  no 
superior.  He  depicted  the  scene  or  character  as  he 
conceived  it  and  in  so  far  as  he  failed,  it  was  due  to 
other  causes — want  of  comprehensiveness  of  view 
and  want  of  constructive   imagination.     It  is  in   his 


37S  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

humorous  descriptions  that  he  is  at  his  best  and  it  is 
here  that  naturalness  is  a  vital  quality  of  style.  In 
such  papers  as — Recollections  of  the  South  Sea  Home, 
Oxford  in  the  Vacation,  The  Old  Benches  of  the 
Inner  Temple,  and  Imperfect  Sympathies,  this  power 
of  natural  portraiture  is  clearly  seen. 


(4.)  Sympathetic  Tenderness. 

It  is  difficult  to  state  with  clearness  the  precise- 
nature  of  the  quality  to  which  we  here  refer.  We 
might  call  it  a  kind  of  sensitiveness  of  style,  deep  and 
delicate  as  it  is  attractive.  It  is  what  the  French 
critics  might  call,  unction.  It  is  what  Milton  would 
term  in  poetry  the  "  sensuous  and  passionate/'  A  pure 
and  tender  feeling  suffuses  the  pages  of  the  author. 
One  has  to  read  but  a  little  in  order  to  see  it  and 
yield  to  its  power.  It  is  above  all  art.  It  defies  ex- 
planation or  statement.  It  is  simply  in  the  man  and 
in  the  writing  and  a  something  by  which  the  soul  of 
the  reader  is  fused  into  that  of  the  author.  They  feel 
together.  This  element  of  style  is  partly  due,  beyond 
question,  to  that  peculiar  life  of  sadness  which  Lamb 
so  often  led  and  not  altogether  separate  from  those 
hours  of  mental  anguish  by  which  his  experience 
was  marked.  There- was  just  enough  of  the  melan- 
choly about  it  to  tinge  and  soften  it.  We  speak  of  it 
here,  however,  as  a  healthful  literary  quality  and 
tending  to  strength.  This  is  a  feature  more  manifest 
in  his  Letters  and  prose  romance  than  in — The  Essays. 
In  that  personal  correspondence  which  he  held  with 
Coleridge,  Southey,  Manning  and  others  there  was 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITER  S.  —  LAMB.  3  79 

just  enough  of  the  intimacy  of  friendship  to  elicit  and 
foster  this  tenderness  of  heart,  while  in  such  a  touch- 
ing story  as  that  of  Rosamond  Gray,  or  the  Dream- 
Children,  this  fineness  of  feeling  reaches  its  climax. 
Critics  speak  of  the  "  religious  emotion"  that  per- 
vades it,  while  even  Shelley  was  constrained  to  ac- 
knowledge its  peculiar  charm.  Much  of  the  diction 
of  Lamb  is  sympathetic  rather  than  scholastic.  Out- 
side of  oratory  and  lyric  verse,  there  are  few  speci- 
mens of  prose  more  justly  entitled  to  the  name  of 
impassioned  than  that  of  Lamb. 

This  quality  of  tenderness  in  style  is  unique  and 
deserves  special  emphasis.  Of  all  the  English  writers 
thus  far  discussed,  not  one  is  any  more  remarkable 
for  this.  The  tendencies  are  all  in  the  other  direction 
— to  the  dispassionate  and  didactic  or  to  what  might 
be  termed,  a  state  of  emotional  indifference.  The 
Augustan  Age  had  nothing  of  it.  Milton  and  Burke 
evinced  a  degree  of  fervor,  and,  yet,  not  of  this  sub- 
dued type.  Many  subordinate  writers,  such  as — 
Fuller  and  Walton  possessed  it  more  deeply  than 
their  superiors.  Even  where  it  is  found  at  all,  as  in 
Dickens,  De  Quincey  and  Eliot,  it  is  generally  found 
as  exceptional  and  not  as  a  pervasive  and  central 
quality.  Cowper  in  his  Letters  and  Burns  and 
Wordsworth  in  their  poetry  have  much  of  it.  The 
prose  that  followed  the  revival  of  literature  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  more  marked 
by  it  than  the  prose  of  earlier  times  and,  yet,  Charles 
Lamb  is  quite  alone  in  the  depth  and  fullness  of  it. 
It  is  as  much  a  part  of  his  style  as  is  its  English 
character,  its  humor  or  its  naturalness.  These  quali- 
ties  together   made   up   a   style   that   without  being 


380  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

great  or  brilliant  is  as  attractive  and  satisfying  as 
any  in  English  Letters. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the — 

(5.)  Critical  Element  in  Lamb's  Prose. 

We  are  here  on  entirely  new  ground  as  to  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  author.  No  estimate  of  his  ability, 
style  or  place  in  English  Literature  can  be  at  all  just 
with  this  element  omitted.  It  is,  however,  the  very 
last  feature  that  we  should  expect  to  find.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  qualities  thus  far  examined  that 
necessarily  leads  to  this  further  one.  They  would  be 
complete  without  it.  There  is  nothing  in  the  author's 
life  and  character  as  a  man,  that  would  necessitate 
it.  When  discerned,  it  is  not  seen  to  be  abnormal  but 
simply  unexpected.  In  Addison  and  Johnson,  we 
look  for  it.  In  Lamb,  it  is  a  surprise.  Hence  it  is, 
that  most  critics  and  readers  come  to  the  study  of  this 
characteristic  of  his  style  with  some  degree  of  literary 
prejudice.  "  Is  Saul,  also,  among  the  prophets  ?  "  Can 
the  -'gentle-hearted,"  sensitive  and  timid  author  of 
Elia  be  bold  enough  to  turn  censor  and  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  his  fellows?  Has  he  the  inclination  to  do 
it  ?  Has  he  the  mental  faculty  ?  However  we  might 
prefer  to  answer  these  questions,  the  facts  are  before 
us.  The  author  has  placed  himself  on  record  as  a 
critic,  especially  of  poetry  and  the  drama.  These 
papers  form  a  body  of  literary  criticism  and  must 
themselves  be  criticised  as  to  the  style  they  purport 
to  exhibit.  Lamb's  critical  style  must  rest  on  that 
portion  of  his  prose  which  is  critical  as  distinct  from 
miscellaneous  and  descriptive,  as  follows: — 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— -LAMB.  381 

Critical  Essays. 

The  Genius  and  Character  of  Hogarth.  The  Artificial 
Comedy  of  the  Last  Century.  The  Tragedies  of  Shake- 
speare. The  Barrenness  of  the  Imaginative  Faculty  in 
the  Production  of  Modem  Art.  The  Poetical  Works  of 
George  Wither.  The  Characters  of  Dramatic  Writers. 
Specimens  of  the  English   Dramatic  Poets. 

In  addition  to  these  formal  essays  and  this  critical 
treatise  on  the  poets,  many  of  the  Letters  addressed 
to  Southey,  Coleridge  and  others  were  purely  critical 
in  character.  The  epistolary  form  gave  them  point 
and  attractiveness.  Here  it  will  be  noted,  is  quite 
sufficient  subject  matter  on  which  to  interpret  Lamb's 
style  as  a  critic  and,  yet,  the  most  diverse  judgments 
have  been  held.  In  his  own  day  he  was  most  cruelly 
dealt  with  in  certain  quarters.  He  had  an  experience 
similar  to  that  which  Bvron  and  Wordsworth  had  and 
his  sensitive  nature  found  it  hard  to  bear  it.  Later 
critics  have  been  found  who  were  willing  to  continue 
this  strain  of  abuse,  or  to  speak  of  the  author  with 
"  faint  praise."  The  burden  of  evidence,  however,  is 
in  his  favor,  some  going  so  far  as  to  attribute  to  him 
with  Southey  "  a  special  genius"  in  the  critical  art. 
In  his — Letters — whenever  he  discusses  English  Po- 
etry, and  in  his — Specimens  of  Dramatists — are  to  be 
found  the  best  examples  of  his  critical  style. 

As  to  this  department  of  criticism  he  had  certain 
prime  qualifications — 

1.  Thorough  familiarity  with  Ms  subject; 

2.  A  deep  affection  for  his  language  and  literature; 

3.  A  sensitive  appreciation  of  poetic  beauty. 


382  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

lie  had  "browsed"  among  the  poets  till  he  was 
full  of  their  life  and  spirit,  and  some  of  his  decis- 
ions indicate  his  critical  acuteness.  His  remarks  on 
Southey,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Walton  and  Burns 
and,  most  especially,  on  Shakespeare  indicate  no  or- 
dinary degree  of  literary  insight. 

Special   attention   should   be   called  to  his  critical 
style  as  seen  in — The  Specimens.     The  best  descrip- 
tion of  his  unique  method  in  Shakesperian  criticism 
is  given  in  his  own  words  as  contained  in — The  Pre- 
face: uThe  plays  which  I  have  made  choice  of  have 
been,  with  few  exceptions,  those  which  treat  of  human 
life  and  manners  rather  than  masques  and  Arcadian 
Pastorals.     My  leading  design  has  been,  to  illustrate 
what  mav  be  called  the  moral  sense  of  our  ancestors: 
to  show  in  what  manner  they  felt  when  they  placed 
themselves  by  the   power   of  imagination    in  trying 
situations;  how  much  of  Shakespeare   shines    in  the 
great  men,  his  contemporaries,  and  how  far  in  his 
divine  mind  and  manners  he  surpassed  them  and  all 
mankind."  This  is  ingenuous  and  it  is,  for  the  time  all 
new.     There  had  been  nothing  like  it,  even  in  concep- 
tion, save  in  Dr.  Johnson's  commentaries,  and  it  is 
questionable  whether  in  the  modern  "  anatomizing  " 
of  Shakespeare,  there  has  been  any  improvement  on 
this    old   and    literal    mtthod    of  interpretation.     In 
this  respect  Ainger  is  right  in  saying."  As  a  critic  he 
had  no  master — it  might  almost  be  said,  no  predeces- 
sor.     He   was   the  inventor  of  his  own  art."     More 
than  this,  he  laid  claim  to  no  technical  knowledge  of 
language,   no  full  acquaintance   with   classical  times. 
He  made  no  attempt  to  solve  riddles  nor  did  he  spend 
his  time  in  attempting  the  impossible.     His  only  aim 


REPRESENTA  TIVE     WRITERS.— LAMB.  883 

was,  to  reveal  his  author  to  his  readers;  to  present 
the  inner  man  to  view  so  that  his  literary  personality 
is  seen  and  sympathy  is  established.  Such  a  method 
is  not  based  on  erudition  as  much  as  on  poetic  in- 
stinct. Such  a  style  is  more  the  outgrowth,  of  a 
"sense  of  beauty  "  than  of  a  knowledge  of  its  laws. 
It  is  more  intuitive  than  logical.  This  much  can  be 
said,  that  no  one  of  Lamb's  predecessors  in  prose  knew 
anything  of  this  kind  of  criticism.  It  was  as  foreign 
to  Dryden  and  Pope  as  it  was  to  Boileau.  The  essay- 
ists of  Queen  Anne  knew  but  little  of  it.  Lamb  was 
in  middle  life  when  it  arose  and  it  arose  largely  with 
himself.  A  few  suggestions  in  his  trenchant  way 
would  throw  as  much  .light  on  a  character  or  seene 
as  long  discussions  from  the  pen  of  Johnson.  It  is 
most  interesting  to  note  his  special  love  of  Shake- 
speai-e  and  the  zeal  with  which  he  pressed  his  great 
claims  on  others.  If  Lamb  had  done  no  other  ser- 
vice for  English  Letters  than  this,  his  name  should 
be  ever  held  in  loving  remembrance.  He  entered 
heartily  into  that  revival  of  Elizabethan  days  which 
marked  the  century  in  which  he  lived  and  was 
never  weary  of  sounding  the  praises  of  the  timeR 
preceding.  \ 

His  discussion  of  his  own  principle  "that  the  plnys 
of  Shakespeare  are  less  calculated  for  performance 
on  a  stage,  than  those  of  almost  any  other  dramatist" 
is  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  English  criticism. 
Ntmvc1  as  th  -position  was,  he  ably  defended  it. 

Lamb,  however,  had  his  limitations  as  a  critic  and 
his  style  bears  their  impression. 

The  main  defects  of  his  prose  as  critical  are 
two. 


384:  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

MAIN  DEFECTS  OF  HIS  PROSE  AS  CRITICAL. 

(1.)  Want  of  Impartiality. 

His  loves  were  too  strong,  at  times,  to  allow  of 
dispassionate  judgment.  He  could  not  put  himself 
into  that  state  of  indifference  which  is  said  to  be 
essential  to  the  critic.  He  had  the  strong  bias.  He 
was  predisposed  to  this  or  that.  His  pre-judgment 
often  controlled  his  judgment.  Hence,  it  has  been 
urged  that  he  thought  too  well  of  the  older  dramat- 
ists to  pass  a  safe  opinion  on  them.  It  has  been  said 
— "Where  his  heart  was,  there  his  judgment  was 
sound."  It  must  be  added  that  there  was,  at  times, 
so  much  heart  that  the  clear  decisions  of  the  head 
were  unduly  modified.  It  is  thus  that  every  reader 
of  his  views  on  English  writers  of  the  earlier  period 
must  bear  in  mind  Lamb's  passionate  devotion  to 
those  times.  Despite  this  prejudice,  however,  it  is 
still  true  that  he  set  forth  the  real  merits  of  the  older 
dramatists  in  such  a  way  that  most  of  his  critical 
opinions  still  pass  unchallenged. 

(2.)  Want  of  Comprehensiveness. 

Lamb's  mind  was  more  acute  than  it  was  broad. 
Some  literary  historians  have  applied  to  him  the 
epithet  of  Shakespearian.  In  some  respects  this  was 
true — as  to  poetic  sensibility  and  devotion  to  dramatic 
jirt.  It  is  not  true,  however,  as  to  that  broad  readi 
of  intellectual  power  for  which  the  great  poet  was  so 
doted.  Lamb's  area  as  a  reader  was  much  larger 
than  his  area  as  a  thinker.    He  can  never  be  properly 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— LAMB.  385 

credited  with  a  Baconian  order  of  mental  power  nor 
did  he  possess  that  critical  compass  of  mind  which 
marked  De  Quincey.  As  fur  as  his  reach  extended, 
he  was  skillful  in  the  art  of  criticism.  Beyond  that 
limit,  he  was  out  of  his  well  defined  area  and  is  to  be 
followed  with  caution. 

It  is  not,  however,  so  much  on  the  critical  basis 
that  his  style  rests  as  on  the  other  elements  to  which 
reference  has  been  made.     In  the  light  of  those,  it 
must  be  maintained  that  although   Lamb  wrote  but 
comparatively  little  prose,  his  name  cannot  be  well 
spared   from  the  list    of  our   leading  prose  authors. 
What  he  wrote  was  characteristic,  so  much  so,  that 
his   style   is  definitely    marked  from  that  of  others. 
Moreover,  with  all  his  defects  he  wrote  so  well  that 
he  illustrated  his  own  theory  of  English  style — "good 
thoughts  in  good  language,"  and  is  a  worthy  example 
to  present  to  the  notice  of  English  students.      It  is 
probable  that  as  a  writer  he  will  always  be  ranked 
somewhat   above    his  real  merits  in  that  his  genial 
spirit  has  won  so  many  hearts  and  disarmed  preju- 
dice.    What    critics    themselves  would   begrudge  to 
such  an  author  as  Swift  they  would  cheerfully  accord 
to  Lamb.     He    will    always    get    the    benefit    of  the 
doubt.     The  essays   of  The   Spectator  and  Rambler 
may  fail  to  hold  their  ground  when — The  Essays  of 
Elia  still  survive  in  freshness  of  interest.     The  same 
remark  may  be  made  of  his  felicitous  papers  and  of 
his  general  productions  as  a  writer  which  he  himself 
made   of  Walton's  Complete  Angler,  "that  it  would 
sweeten  u  man's  temper  at  any  time  to  read  them." 
The    praise    which    Matthew    Arnold    borrows  from 
Swift  and    often    affectedly    misapplies — "  sweetness 


386  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

and  light"  may  well  be  applied  to  that  genial  and 
sympathetic  style  of  which  Charles  Lamb  is  the 
natural  master. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Ainger's  Life  of  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.).  Essays  of  Elia, 
etc.  A  Memoir  of  Lamb  (Barry  Cornwall).  Life  and 
Letters  (Talfourd).     Hood's  Literary  Reminiscences. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  THOMAS  BABINGTON 
MACAULAY. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  at  Rothley  Temple,  Oct.  25th,  1800.  In  Cam- 
bridge, 1818;  B.A.,  1822.  A  Fellow  of  Trinity,  M.A., 
1825.  Called  to  the  Bar  (Lincoln's  Inn)  1826.  En- 
tered Parliament,  1830,  for  Calne.  Entered  Parlia- 
ment, 1832,  for  Leeds.  Became  Secretary  of  Board 
of  Control  for  India.  In  India  1835-8.  In  Parlia- 
ment from  Edinburgh,  1839.  Secretary  of  War, 
1840.  Retired  from  Parliament,  1847.  Lord  Rector 
of  Glasgow  University,  1849.  Re-elected  to  Parlia- 
ment, 1852.  Raised  to  Peerage,  1857.  Died,  Deo. 
18th,  1859,  in  Kensington. 

Prose  Works. 

As  far  as  the  prose  works  of  Macaulay  are  con- 
cerned, with  reference  to  the  study  of  style,  they  are 
included  in — The  History  of  England,  and  his — 
Essay  8. 

Although  he  had  proposed  to  write  this  history 
"  from  the  accession  of  James  II.  down  to  a  time 
within  the  memory  of  men  still  living  " — as  far  indeed, 
as  to  the  death  of  George  IV.,  it  covers,  in  fact,  but  a 


388     REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MAC  AULA  Y. 

small  portion  of  the  nation's  life,  closing  with   the 
death  of  William  of  Orange. 

His  essays  have  been  judiciously  classified  by  Mori- 
son  as  follows: 

1.  English  History — Burleigh,  Hallam,  Hampden, 
Milton,  Temple,  Mackintosh,  Walpole,  Pitt,  Chatham, 
Clive  and  Hastings. 

2.  Foreign  History — Machiavelli,  Mirabean,  Van 
Ranke,  Frederic  and  Baiere. 

3.  Controversial — Mill,  Saddler,  Southey,  and  Glad- 
stone. 

4.  Critical  and  Miscellaneous — Dryden,  Montgomery, 
Byron,  Banyan,  Johnson,  Bacon,  Hunt,  and  Addison. 

These  several  series  include  respectively,  twelve, 
five,  four  and  eight  papers,  making  in  round  numbers, 
thirty  productions  of  this  periodical  order. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  follow  the  example  qf 
many  critics  and  aim  to  prove  the  superiority  of  these 
specimens  of  prose  to  the  History  of  England.  For 
the  purposes  of  the  student  of  English,  it  is  better  to 
regard  them  as  complements  of  each  other,  the  one 
supplying  what  the  other  lacks.  In  what  is  called 
the  historical  essay  and  in  which  Macaulay  so  suc- 
ceeded, there  is  found  the  best  possible  example  of 
the  union  of  these  two  forms  of  prose-narrative  and 
miscellany. 

Popular  Estimate  of  his  Prose  Style. 

Popularity,  in  the  looser  sense  of  the  term,  is  not  to 
be  regarded  as  a  true  criterion  either  of  character  or 
ability.  In  the  higher  sense,  however,  it  may  be  so 
accepted  and  enters  as  an  important  factor  among 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MACAU  LAY.      389 

others  in   making  up  the   status  of  an  author  or   a 
oook. 

Lord  Macaulay  must  be  classed  among  the  popular 
writers  of  English  Prose  in  the  first  half  of  the  present 
century.  From  the  date  of  his  formal  entrance  upon 
authorship,  in  his  Essay  on  Milton,  published  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  in  1825,  on  to  the  date  of  his 
death,  in  1859,  his  prose  may  be  said  to  have  been 
inferior  to  that  of  no  one  of  his  contemporaries  in  the 
hold  which  it  had  upon  the  respect  and  admiration 
of  the  English  people.  Since  his  death  and  the  com- 
mitment of  his  writings  to  posterity  and  to  criticism, 
his  prose  still  has  a  substantial  place  in  English  Let- 
ters. The  one  who  denies  his  claim  to  be  ranked 
among  the  first  examples  of  English  style,  must  see 
to  it  that  he  be  prepared  to  maintain  his  difficult  posi- 
tion. It  is  probably  true,  that  even  at  this  day,  no 
history  of  England,  covering  the  era  which  Macaulay 
treats,  is  oftener  read  or  read  with  more  intelligent 
interest  than  is  his.  It  is,  also,  probable  that  tke 
modern  English  student  is  as  familiar  with  Macau- 
lay's  essays  as  with  those  of  any  other  prominent 
essayist  of  the  century.  Much  of  his  essay  prose,  it 
is  true,  is  superseded,  as  to  its  subject  matter,  by  the 
course  of  events.  Much  of  it  was  called  forth  by 
local  and  even  partisan  issues  and  served  its  purpose 
when  it  was  penned. 

Most  of  his  readers  care  but  little  now  as  to  what 
he  said  concerning  Walpole,  Clive  and  Hastings,  or 
as  to  Maohiavelli  and  Mirabeau.  Some  have  gone  so 
far  as  to  say,  that  the  partisan  character  of  his  essays, 
as  a  class,  makes  them  unreliable  for  purposes  of  refer- 
ence.    The  same  criticism  will  apply  to  the  historical 


390  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

prose.  Even  of"  these  prose  productions,  however,  it 
may  be  stated,  that  the  literary  form  in  which  they 
are  cast  and  preserved  is  such  as  to  make  their  present 
perusal  an  eesthetic  pleasure  to  the  intelligent  critic 
of  style.  Such  essays  as  those  on — Temple,  Hallam, 
Hampden  and  the  Pitts,  local  as  was  their  origin,  will 
maintain  their  interest  as  long  as  English  Literature 
lias  a  history.  Even  such  faulty  papers  as  those  on 
Bacon,  Addison  and  Milton  still  attract  and  charm  us. 
Such  a  general  and  sustained  literary  reputation 
as  this  in  prose  indicates  the  presence  of  qualities  of 
excellence.  Popularity,  in  this  case,  means  some 
degree  of  merit.  No  fortuitous  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances can  do  for  a  man  what  Macaulay  did  for 
himself  in  this  particular.  The  orator  and  the  poet 
may  owe  more  to  native  talent  than  to  patient  in- 
dustry. It  is  not  so  with  the  prose  writer.  A  care- 
ful study  of  his  style  will  reveal  his  excellences  and 
errors. 

ANALYSIS  OF  HIS  STYLE. 

(1.)  Skill  in  Narrative  and  Descriptive  Writing. 

This  skill  is  observable  in  each  of  these  species  of 
prose  as,  separately,  also,  in  their  combination,  as  Nar- 
rative-Descriptive. In  that  prose  which  is  specifically 
historical  as,  in — The  History  of  England — it  is  natu- 
ral to  find  this  peculiar  type  of  literary  expression. 
History,  as  a  record  of  events,  must  be  largely  nar- 
rative and  as  involving  the  portraiture  of  persons  and 
scenes  must  be  largely  descriptive.  This  feature  of 
style,  however,  is  not  confined  to  the  history  proper 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.  —MA  CA  ULA  Y.      391 

or  even  to  those  of  his  essays  which  may  be  called 
historical,  but  finds  expression  in  all  the  prose  he  has 
written. 

It  is  the  Narrative-Descriptive  style  in  its  best 
form  and  when  it  is  seen  what  are  the  essential  ele- 
ments of  prose  discourse  included  in  such  a  style,  the 
mastery  of  Macaulay's  pen  in  this  special  province 
will  be  evident. 

(a. )   Clearness  of  Presentation. 

This  is  the  first  mark  of  good  writing  and  is  an  in- 
tegral part  of  that  order  of  style  now  in  question. 
Whatever  may  or  may  not  be  said  of  Macaulay's 
prose,  it  cannot  be  justly  accused  of  obscurity.  The 
student  is  nut  required,  as  in  the  case  of  Carlyle  and 
Emerson,  to  read  and  read  again  in  order  to  be  sure 
of  the  meaning.  The  language  used  is  its  own  best 
interpreter  and  is  always  chosen  with  scrupulous  care 
to  express  in  the  plainest  terms  the  idea  intended. 
Macau  lay  had,  as  every  notable  writer  has  had,  some 
unsparing  critics.  There  was  everything  in  the 
attitude  of  the  Edinburgh  Review;  in  the  political 
history  of  the  time  and  in  his  brilliant  career  as  a 
writer  which  incited  his  opponents  to  the  sharpest 
censorship.  The  weak  points  of  his  style  would  of 
course  be  mercilessly  exposed.  It  is  noticeable,  how- 
ever, that  very  little  is  said  as  to  ambiguity  of  style. 
Hie  fact  is,  that  much  of  the  criticism  to  which  he  was 
subjected  was  itself  the  best  commentary  on  his  liter- 
ary clearness.  II is  meaning  was  too  well  understood. 
There  was  no  question  as  to  tin;  mark  at  which  he 
was  aiming,  what  lie  was  saying  and  why  he  was 
s.<\ing  it,  In  such  an  essay  as  that  on  Warren 
Hastings  or  Horace   Walpole,  the  reader  has  an  ex- 


392  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ample  as  to  how  Macaulay  could  make  himself  under- 
stood. The  thought  is  clearly  conceived  and  clearly 
phrased.  If  we  look  more  narrowly  into  this  feature 
of  Macaulay's  prose,  it  will  be  found  to  bear  examina- 
tion. It  is  evident  from  his  biography  that  he  made 
clearness  a  prime  object  in  writing;  that  he  severely 
revised  his  own  style  with  reference  to  it  and  that  he 
studied  authors  and  men  in  the  light  of  it.  It  is  cer- 
tainly a  matter  greatly  to  his  credit  as  stated  by  his 
most  recent  biographer — that  the  workingmen  of 
England  sent  him  their  thanks  for  writing  a  history 
that  they  could  understand. 

It  is  of  special  interest  here  to  note  that  the  prose 
of  Macaulay  in  respect  to  its  clearness  was  in  every 
sense  true  to  the  claims  of  the  home  language-  There 
are  but  few  representative  writers  of  English  whose 
style  so  happily  avoids  the  extreme  of  pedantry  on 
the  one  hand,  and  that  of  purism,  on  the  other.  His 
prose  is  true  to  that  high  and  safe  rhetorical  principle 
in  action,  that  the  best  word  under  the  circumstances 
is  to  be  used,  whatever  its  origin  may  be.  It  is  in 
carrying  out  this  law  that  the  just  claims  of  all  kin- 
dred tongues  will  be  met  and,  yet,  the  precedence  be 
given  to  the  native  speech.  Mr.  Marsh's  estimate  of 
his  diction  in  the  Essay  on  Bacon,  as  seventy-five  per 
cent  as  to  its  English,  is  below  rather  than  above  the 
truth  and  will  fairly  express  the  average  percentage 
of  English  throughout  his  works.  His  papers  are  full 
of  Saxon  monosyllables  and  dissyllables.  As  a  rule, 
he  seeks  the  shorter  terms  and  phrases.  While  not 
as  fully  Saxon  as  Bunyan  and  De  Foe,  he  is  a  long 
way  in  advance  of  Bacon,  Hooker,  Milton,  Johnson, 
and  is,  in  this  respect,  a  sufficiently  safe  standard  for 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MAC  AULA  Y.   393 

the  English  student.     His  clearness  was  largely  the 
result  of  pure  English. 

(b.)  Copiousness  of  Style. 

This  quality  might  be  stated  in  other  terras  as, 
Ease,  Facility  or  Fluency.  It  is  an  expression  of 
literary  art  which  seems  to  have  all  the  freedom 
of  nature  and  gives  to  the  reader  the  happy  impres- 
sion of  the  fullness  of  the  author.  The  older  English 
writers  would  call  the  style,/er/i7e.  It  involves  what 
is  properly  termed,  the  art  of  amplification  or  para- 
phrase. It  is  the  fullest  possible  expression  of  an 
idea  within  the  limits  of  rhetorical  brevity.  No 
writer  previous  to  Macaulay  so  richly  possessed  this 
element.  It  is  one  of  the  latest  and  most  difficult 
results  of  literary  labor.  Although  found  in  Macau- 
lay's  earliest  prose,  its  quality  is  much  higher  in  his 
more  mature  writing.  Copiousness  in  his  Essay  on 
Milton  is  one  thing  and  in  the  best  parts  of  the 
History,  quite  another.  Natural  gifts  apart,  it  de- 
pends on  a  wide  and  choice  area  of  reading;  on  a 
close  study  of  words,  native  and  foreign,  and,  above 
all,  on  a  healthful  literaiy  taste  to  discern  and  appre- 
ciate whatsoever  is  good.  These  things  make  what 
Bacon  calls — "the  full  man";  what  older  critics 
called  in  the  best  sense,  a  voluble  man.  The  words 
roll  out  in  rich  profusion.  The  style  is  copious.  Nor 
is  this  ease  of  expression  confined  to  the  diction  of 
his  narrations  and  descriptions,  but  enters  into  all 
the  style.  The  thought  itself  flows  smoothly  and 
freely  on.  There  are  no  bands  or  restrictions.  Much 
of  the  attractiveness  of  the  author's  prose  is  found 
just  hero.  The  reader  is  not  asked  to  plod  through 
the  pages  as  through  the  heavy  style  of  Burton  and 


394  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Browne,  pitying,  at  every  turn,  the  crudeness  find 
bondage  of  the  author,  but  is  carried  by  the  author 
himself  on  the  high  tide  of  his  thought  and  feeling. 
One  often  wonders  at  the  ease  with  which  he  is 
transported  from  point  to  point.  There  is  a  charm 
hi  the  verbal  and  mental  fullness.  The  style  is  com- 
pletely elaborated  without  being  labored.  It  is  not 
denied  that  danger  lurks  at  the  very  door  of  this 
quality,  in  the  tendency  to  verboseness — in  a  copious- 
ness where  ideas  and  words  are  in  the  inverse  ratio. 
Macaulay  has  been  sharply  dealt  with  as  to  diffusc- 
ness  of  style.  Common  readers  as  well  as  the  critics 
have  noted  it.  No  impartial  judge  of  his  prose  can 
deny  the  justness  of  the  accusation.  "  When  he  has 
to  tell  us "  says  Morison,  "  that  the  Reformation 
greatly  diminished  the  wealth  of  the  Church  of 
England,  it  costs  him  two  pages  to  say  so." 

Macaulay  had  his  own  reasons  for  much  of  this 
wordiness.  It  was  partly  unavoidable  and  partly 
intentional.  His  habit,  from  early  life,  of  reading 
all  that  came  to  hand  and  of  seeing  what  he  saw  in 
many  different  phases;  his  marvelous  memory  in 
holding  what  he  had  and  reproducing  it  and  his 
spacious  wealth  of  diction,  made  it  quite  impossible 
for  him  to  be  satisfied  with  the  one  statement  of  an 
idea.  He  must  present  it  and  re-present  it,  On  the 
other  hand,  his  theory  of  style,  especially  as  applied 
to  narrative  writing,  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  be 
copious  up  to  the  verge  of  prolixity.  He  often  passed 
that  verge  and  did  what  Swift  and  Dickens  did  in 
fiction — incurred  the  charge  of  tedious  redundancy. 
Despite  this  fault,  however,  Pope,  had  he  been  living, 
might  have  spoken  of  the  copious  Macaulay  as  he  did 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS  —MA  CAUL  A  Y.   395 

of  the  "copious  Dryden."  There  was  a  real  richness 
of  word  and  phrase — a  latent  store  of  resources  al- 
ways accessible  at  need.  The  style  withal  is  natural 
and  original.  It  is  the  author's  own.  His  digressions 
are  too  many  and  too  long  but,  in  time,  he  always 
returns  to  the  main  idea  as  Swift  did  and  as  Hooker 
did  not.  In  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  his  prose 
style  is  voluminous.  The  best  that  can  be  said  of  it 
at  this  point  is,  that  this  copiousness  at  times  degen- 
erated to  diffaseness,  but  in  the  main,  kept  within 
the  limits  of  literary  law  and  added  interest  to  the 
narrative.  If  he  is  "  one  of  the  best  story-tellers  "  in 
Modern-English,  story-tellers  must  have  some  liberty. 
There  is  such  a  theory  as  Prose-License. 

(c.)  Pictorial  Skill. 

This  is  an  essential  feature  of  the  Descriptive  order 
of  prose.  It  might,  without  error  be  called — The 
Descriptive  Style.  Critics  often  refer  to  it  as,  the 
graphic  or  picturesque  form  of  prose.  It  is  closely 
allied  to  that  literary  clearness  and  copiousness  of 
which  we  have  spoken  and,  yet,  is  a  feature  distinct 
in  itself.  The  French  speak  of  it  as,  the  power  of 
depicting  or  painting.  It  marks  the  border  line 
between  prose  and  poetry  and  is  especially  prominent 
in  that  exceptional  kind  of  prose  known  as  poetical. 
In  this  department  of  style,  Maeaulay  has  done  nota- 
ble work.  It  is  difficult  to  state  whether  this  feature 
is  more  prominent  in  the  essays  or  in  the  history.  It 
is  visible  in  the  style  throughout  and  gives  to  it  that 
imaginative  tinge  and  vividness  of  coloring  which 
the  most  cursory  reader  of  Maeaulay  must  have 
noticed.  In  giving  us  his  definition  of  history  this 
feature  is   emphasized.     He   writes — "  History   is   a 


396  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

compound  of  poetry  and  philosophy."  The  special 
stress  laid  upon  the  poetic  or  pictorial  element  is  seen 
as  he  explains  the  definition.  "  It  impresses  truths  on 
the  mind  by  a  vivid  representation  of  characters  and 
incidents."  As  we  shall  see  hereafter,  whatever 
Macaulay  intended  to  do  in  the  way  of  combining 
the  poetic  and  philosophic  in  historical  prose,  and 
giving  them  equal  place,  he  actually  magnified  the 
poetic  at  every  point  and  made  the  narrative  a  real 
story  in  the  sphere  of  the  imaginative.  Much  of  the 
prose  reads  as  if  it  were  in  the  realm  of  fiction.  It 
represents  in  prose  what  Historical  Plays  represent 
in  dramatic  poetry. 

Here,  again,  Macaulay  exposed  himself  to  the 
judgment  of  the  critics  and  has  been  strongly  con- 
demned by  many  of  them  as  guilty  of  excessive  orna- 
ment in  style.  His  prose  is  said  to  pass  the  limits  of 
prose  proper  and  enter  the  domain  of  the  poetic.  It 
is  alleged,  that  as  an  essayist  and  historian  he  at- 
tempts the  role  of  the  novelist  and  subordinates  the 
didactic  element  in  narrative  to  the  pictorial  and 
attractive. 

There  is  truth  in  all  this.  There  is  a  sense  in  which 
the  radical  defect  of  Macaulay's  style  lies  just  here — 
in  the  love  of  excessive  finish,  in  over  abundant  met- 
aphor, in' literary  painting  rather  than  in  the  logical 
elaboration  of  the  idea  for  substantial  ends.  He 
seems  to  delight  far  too  much  in  embellishment  for 
its  own  sake  and  would  artfully  decoy  the  reader 
from  idea  to  imagery.  Hence,  the  reader  must  be 
constantly  awake  to  the  detection  and  interpretation 
of  the  figurative  element.  Metaphors  and  Similes 
become  ends  in  themselves.     The  description  takes 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MA  CAUL  AY.   397 

precedence  as  to  interest  of  the  scene  or  object  de- 
scribed and  fact  succumbs  to  fiction.     It  is  difficult 
at  times  to  tell  where  we  are,  whether  on  firm  ground 
or  in  mid  air.     Romance  and  reality  are  so  blended 
that  the  result  is,  at  times,  confusing.     All  this  con- 
ceded,   however,    much    of   the    peculiar    power    of 
Macaulay's  prose  is  in  its  pictorial  feature  in  so  far 
as  it   is   healthfully   exhibited.     No    impartial    critic 
could  afford  to  decry  this.     There  is  a  higher  grade 
of  delineative  skill  that  marks  the  author  as  an  his- 
torical artist.     There  is  a  boldness  and  definiteness 
of  outline  which  at  once  attracts  attention,  awakens 
interest  and  represents  the  idea  more  clearly    than 
could  otherwise  be  done.     It  does  with  the  thought 
what  the  old  limners  did  with  the  typography  of  the 
book — sets  it  forth  in  such  graphic  portraiture  that 
the  reader  may  take  the  sketch  as  a  verbal  frame- 
work and  fill  in  for  himself  the  completed   picture. 
Some  of  the  author's  most  brilliant  passages  are  of 
this    picturesque    order.     After    reading    them    they 
hang  before  the  mind's  eye  with  all   the  vividness  of 
a  great  painting.     This  characteristic  of  style  is  sig- 
nally present  in  the  History  and  the  historical  essays, 
when  the  author  is  delineating  some  striking  char- 
acter or  scene.     When  he  has  done,   the  lineaments 
are  as  clear  as  if  they  were  sculptured  in   bas-reliet 
and  could  be  approached  and  touched.     There  is  here 
an  important  province  of  literary  art  and  it  is  safe  to 
say   that   no  writer   of  English    Prose    has    excelled 
Macaulay   in   it.     No  one  of  his  predecessors,  John 
Bunyan  apart,  at  all  approximated  him.     De  Quincey 
and  the  great  English  novelists — Scott,  Dickens  and 
Thackeray — had   much   of  the  same  skill.      Prescott 


398  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

and  Motley  of  our  own  country  are  his  closest 
petitors  in  this  field  of  historical  art. 

Critics,  such  as  Leslie  Stephens,  have  gone  toe 
in  a  wide-sweeping  denunciation  of  this  feature  of 
Macaulay's  style.  Morison,  in  his  excellent  biography 
assumes  safer  ground  when  he  calls  attention  to  this 
quality  in  some  specimen  passages  and  challenges 
the  critics  to  decry  it. 

Descriptive  writing  is  one  of  the  leading  forms  of 
prose  and  ever  inviting  more  attention.  There  is 
such  a  thing  as  legitimate  Word-Painting  by  which 
sameness  of  style  is  relieved  and  the  meaning  made 
more  effective.  Macaulay  would  have  undoubtedly 
gained  reputation  and  more  permanent  influence  had 
he  used  imagery  and  ornament  more  sparingly. 
Still,  great  care  is  to  be  taken  lest  while  this  is  con- 
ceded we  lose  sight  of  that  exceptional  descriptive 
skill  which  he  possessed  and  which  goes  very  far  to 
explain  the  facts  that  his  essays  and  history  are  still 
in  demand  among  us. 


(2.)  Excellence  of  Sentence  Structure. 

Macaulay  was  the  Lombard  of  his  age — a  master 
of  sentences.  What  his  biographer,  Mr.  Trevetyan, 
states,  would  seem  to  be  confirmed,  "  that  he  never 
allowed  a  sentence  to  pass  muster  until  it  was  as 
good  as  he  could  make  it,"  until  every  sentence  ran 
as  smoothly  as  running  water  and  every  paragraph 
closed  with  a  telling  clause. 

He  believed,  with  De  Qaincey,  that  there  was  no 
more  important  matter  in  prose  discourse  than  sen- 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS—  MAC 'A  UL  AY.    399 

tence  building — the  formation  of  the  frame  of  the 
thought.  Very  much  of  that  devotion  to  detail,  of 
which  we  read  in  his  life,  was  sperrt  in  this  direction, 
until  he  at  length  formed  the  habit  of  shaping  his 
words  in  the  clearest  and  most  cogent  manner.  All 
readers  of  Macaulay  must  have  been  impressed  with 
his  skill  in  mere  structure,  in  what  has  been  termed, 
the  "  meclianology  "  of  style.  There  is  a  marked  ab- 
sence of  those  harsh  and  crude  constructions  that 
indicate  the  presence  of  the  novice.  The  successive 
transitions  from  clause  to  clause  are  so  carefully  ad- 
justed as  to  give  all  the  eflect  of  naturalness  to  the 
style.  Artifice  gives  place  to  a  genuine  literary  art. 
So  distinctive  is  this  element  in  the  author's  style 
that  a  good  manual  of  sentence-structure  might  be 
compiled  from  the  pages  of  his  prose.  All  writers 
upon  the  Art  of  Discourse  must  make  frequent  refei*- 
ence  to  Macaulay. 

There  are  two  types  of  sentence  which  are  especi- 
ally frequent  not  so  much  because  they  were  favorites 
with  the  author  as  that  they  are  in  themselves  the 
best  rhetorical  forms. 

(a)   The  Periodic  Sentence. 

In  this,  as  is  known,  the  clauses  are  arranged 
rhetorically  rather  than  grammatically.  The  object 
is  not  so  much  to  arrange  subject,  predicate  and 
adjuncts  as  a  matter  of  syntax  as  it  is  to  present  the 
parts  of  the  sentence  in  the  order  of  their  relative 
importance.  The  (bought  determines  the  form.  The 
result  is  that  of  the  logical  climax.  In  the  frequency. 
correctness  and  force  of  this  progressive  structure, 
Macaulay's  prose  is  a  model.  So  apt  is  he  in  its  use, 
that  almost  any  page  of  his  writing  may  be  taken  at 


400  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

random  for  purposes  of  example.  Gross  violations  of 
propriety  are  almost  unknown  in  his  prose  while 
even  where  the  Loose  Sentence  is  used,  it  is  so  terse 
and  skillfully  combined  as  to  give  to  the  leading 
thought  the  prominence  it  deserves.  Though,  as  in 
most  writers,  where  the  periodic  sentence  prevails, 
the  shorter  form  is  preferred,  special  attention  is  to 
be  called  to  the  excellence  and  comparative  frequency 
in  Macaulay  of  the  longer  structure.  In  no  English 
prose  of  equal  amount  can  there  be  found  so  many 
correctly  formed  Periodic  Paragraphs  or  Periods. 
Some  of  them  are  of  such  length  and  import  as  tc 
manifest  consummate  skill  in  their  construction.  A 
series  of  such  paragraphs  is  often  found  in  which  the 
double  and  difficult  result  is  reached  of  maintaining 
the  unity  of  each  separate  paragraph  and  the  common 
unitv  of  all. 

It  is  just  here  that  the  oratorical  feature  of  the 
author's  prose  comes  into  prominence  and  finds  its 
explanation.  Literary  historians  have  noted  this 
quality.  "  Macaulay 's  natural  aptitude''  says  Morison 
"  was  oratorical  rather  than  literar}'."  Nor  is  the 
reference  here  exclusively  to  his  special  power  in 
parliamentary  address  when  he  came  face  to  face 
with  an  English  audience  as  a  defender  of  the  Keform 
Rill.  His  brilliant  success  here  is  well  known  and 
the  eulogiums  of  Peel  and  Gladstone  are  a  matter  of 
history.  His  speeches  in  the  House  of  Commons,  it 
is  to  be  noted,  are  a  substantial  part  of  his  prose 
work  and  cannot  be  left  out  of  the  account  in  deter- 
mining his  rank  as  a  writer.  We  refer  here,  how- 
ever, to  his  distinctively  literary  prose  as  possessed 
of  much    of  this  oratorical   force   and   this,    as   the 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MACAULAY.      401 

result  of  skillful  periodic  structure.  The  parts  of  the 
paragraph  are  adjusted  with  reference  to  their  best 
effect.  As  we  peruse  the  periods,the  result  is  impres- 
sive as  well  as  enlightening.  The  reader  is  often 
aroused  to  a  high  degree  of  ardor  and  feels  the  hand 
of  a  master.  Hence  it  is,  that  many  parts  of  Macau- 
lay's  history  read  as  an  oration  reads,  while  his  es- 
says abound  in  passages  which  in  their  emotive  vigor 
remind  one  of  the  best  selections  from  Burke  and 
Pitt.  There  is  no  marked  degree  of  oratorical  grace 
but  the  presence  of  true  English  stamina  is  there  and 
it  is  telling.  Most  of  this  effect  is  due,  of  course,  to 
the  inherent  force  of  the  subject  matter.  Much  of  it 
is.  also,  due  to  what  has  been  well  termed  "  the 
luminous  order  and  logical  sequence  of  the  parts"  of 
the  structure.  It  is  impossible  to  understand  what  is 
meant  by  a  recent  critic  in  calling  Macaulay  "  clumsy" 
in  sentence  structure.  His  bitterest  opposers  have 
conceded  to  him  this  form  of  skill  as  a  writer. 

(b)    The  Balanced  Sentence. 

This  species  of  sentence  is  equally  frequent  and 
characteristic.  Though  not  so  prominent  as  in  the 
Essays  of  Bacon,  it  is  sufficiently  so  to  call  for  special 
notice.  The  reader  advances  but  a  short  way  ere  he 
discovers  this  antithetical  bias.  It  is  in  this  part  of 
the  author's  work  that  there  is  seen  the  reason  of 
much  of  his  literary  power  as  an  historian.  This  is 
especially  so  in  that  work  of  delineation  which  has 
been  mentioned. 

It  often  occurs  that  this  graphic  portraiture  of 
men  behind  the  facts  of  history  can  best  be  set 
forth  by  the  use  of  sharp  contrast  rather  than 
by   progressive   statement.     History  and  Prose  Fie- 


402  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

tion  have  this  element  in  common  and  are  thus 
together  related  to  descriptive  discourse.  What 
is  known  by  the  dramatist  as,  the  power  of  char- 
acterization, is  here  needed  and  illustrated.  Ma- 
eaulay's  prose  is  marked  by  this.  He  was 
fond  of  studying  men  and  things  by  their  op- 
posites.  An  idea  no  sooner  presented  itself  to  him 
than  he  saw  all  the  possible  ideas  with  which  it 
might  be  contrasted.  He  explained  the  positive  and 
negative  by  each  other.  In  the  province  of  logic,  it 
is  the  argument  from  contraries.  This  use  of  anti- 
thesis gives  point  and  pungency  to  the  style;  lends 
to  it  a  degree  of  interest  which  wins  attention  and 
succeeds  where  other  forms  would  fall.  His  con- 
trasts between  Dante  and  Milton ;  between  the  Puri- 
tan and  other  religious  orders;  between  Elastingsand 
other  culprits;  between  Frederic  the  Great  and  other 
rulers  and  between  his  own  times  and  those  pre- 
ceding;— all  mark  him  as  a  master  of  this  tvpe  of 
sentence.  He  had  a  keen  eye  to  the  differences  of 
things. 

Some  of  the  examples  of  antithesis  will  be  of 
interest  to  the  student  and  general  reader. 

"The  poetry  of  Milton  differs  from  that  of  Dante  as  the  hiero- 
glyphics of  Egypt  differed  from  the  picture  writing  of  Mexico. 
The  images  which  Dante  employs  speak  for  themselves.  Those  of 
Ivlilton  have  a  signification  which  is  often  discernible  to  the  initiated 

only-*' 

'Logicians  may  reason  about  abstractions  but  the  great  mass  of 
men  must  have  images." 

•'The  character  of  Milton  was  peculiarly  distinguished  by  lofti- 
ness of  spirit;  that  of  Dante,  by  intensity  of  feeling." 

Of  Charles  I.,  he  says — 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.  —MA  CA  ULA  Y.      403 

"We  charge  him  with  having  broken  his  coronation  oath  and  we 
are  told  that  he  kept  his  marriage  vow.  We  censure  him  for  having 
violated  the  articles  of  The  Petition  of  Itight  and  we  are  informed 
that  he  was  accustomed  to  hear  prayers  at  six  in  the  morning." 

"The  Puritan  was  made  up  of  two  different  men;  the  one,  all 
self-abasement,  penitence,  gratitude,  passion;  the  other,  proud, 
calm,  inflexible,  sagacious.  He  prostrated  himself  in  the  dust 
before  his  Maker  but  he  set  his  feet  on  the  neck  of  his  king." 

Such  are  some  of  these  numerous  examples  of  con- 
trasted structure.  Clause  is  set  over  against  clause 
with  all  the  mechanism  of  architectural  law  and 
ideas  are  made  to  face  and  explain  each  other. 

It  is  susrscestive  to  note,  in  this  connection,  that 
much  of  Maeaulay's  power  as  a  prose  satirist  finds  its 
interpretation  here.  This  form  of  sentence  is  related 
to  satire  somewhat  as  the  periodic  is  to  oratory.  The 
plain  straightforward  structure  is  not  crisp  and  terse 
enough  for  the  purposes  of  irony.  It  is,  moreover, 
too  honest  to  give  expression  to  any  double  meaning 
or  in  any  way  to  conceal  the  truth.  In  poetry  and 
prose  alike,  all  successful  satirists  have  dealt  largely 
in  counter  statement.  Butler  in  Hudibras;  Pope,in 
The  Dnnciad;  Dryden,  in  his  epistles;  Swift,  in  his 
allegories  and  A.ddison,in  his  papers,  have  all  freely 
used  it.  Macaulay  knew  his  forte.  He  saw,  at  once, 
that  his  age  demanded  satirical  prose  as  Dryden's  did 
(poetry)  satirical  As  Plutarch  saw  fit  to  describe 
his  characters  by  parallels,  Macaulay  chose  antithesis 
and  succe  ;ded.  The  historic  scenes  and  personages 
that  he  has  thus  portrayed  form  a  part  of  the  common 
literary  stock  of  every  age. 

At  this  point,  once  again,  the  critics  are  awake  and 
in   arms. 

Maeaulay's  prose  is  said  to  carry  antithesis  too  far. 


404  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

The  balanced  structure  overreached  itself.  Form,  it 
is  argued,  takes  precedence  of  subject  matter  in  that 
truth  and  good  taste  are'alike  sacrificed  to  complete 
the  verbal  contrast.     Mechanology  is  again  the  vice. 

Not  a  little  of  the  author's  prose  is  clearly  open  to 
this  accusation,  especially  so,  where  the  contrasts  are 
multiplied  at  great  lengths  so  that  the  thought  re- 
turns upon  itself.  There  are  times  when  the  natural 
order  would  seem  to  be  anything  but  epigrammatic 
and,  yet,  the  author  insists  on  presenting  the  idea  in 
this  form.  Beginning  a  paragraph  with  a  contrasted 
sentence,  this  form  is  maintained  throughout  as  if 
from  sheer  fancy  or  artifice.  His  notable  lack  of 
genuine  humor,  as  seen  in  Lamb  and  Addison,  is 
largely  attributable  to  the  fact  that  the  satirical  ele- 
ment enters  into  all  his  pleasantry.  Still,  criticism  has 
been  unduly  severe  at  this  point.  In  aiming  to  ac- 
count for  that  degree  of  literary  currency  which  the 
writings  of  Macaulay  have  had  in  enlightened  circles, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  assign  the  leading  place  to  any 
one  quality  of  prose  style.  This  epigrammatic  brevity, 
however,  must  be  admitted  as  a  factor  here,  nor  is  it 
unworthy  of  notice  that  such  a  structure  is  all  the 
more  a  mark  of  skill  in  that  it  reveals  insight  and 
discrimination.  Literary  antithesis  when  of  the  true 
order  marks  anything  but  superficiality.  It  marks 
the  presence  of  ideas  as  the  basis  of  contrast. 

Every  critical  reader  of  Macaulay's  prose  wishes 
there  had  been  somewhat  less  of  this  type  of  sentence. 
As  it  is,  however,  it  is  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the 
author's  theory  of  style,  with  the  peculiar  quality  of 
his  mental  power  and  his  personal  characteristics. 

In  other  hands,  it  would  have  been  more  abused 


REPRESENTA  TIVE     WRITERS.— MA CA  ULA  Y.     405 

and  can  never  be  safely  imitated  by  the  aspiring 
writer  as  a  cardinal  excellence  of  style. 

The  Balanced  Structure,  properly  viewed,  is  excep- 
tional and  not  regular.  Its  purpose  is  to  secure  vari- 
ety and  occasional  point  and  not  to  furnish  the  staple 
form  of  sentence. 

Macanlay's  prose  without  the  epigrammatic  element 
would  be  another  and  inferior  order  of  prose.  Hence, 
it  follows  that  antithesis  is  a  good  thing  in  its  place, 
but  has  its  limits.  Organism  is  better  than  Mechan- 
ism. The  study  of  Carlyle  will  reopen  this  discussion 
as. to  antithesis. 

(3.)    Literary   Personality. 

By  this  is  meant  not  so  much  that  the  style  is  ori- 
ginal as  that  it  is  individual.  It  has  a  character  and 
tone  peculiar  to  itself  by  which  it  may  easily  be  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  preceding  and  contemporary 
writers.  I  lis  style  was  his  own  to  that  degree  that  it 
carries  with  it  its  own  interpretation  and  credentials. 
The  discerning  literary  age  is  never  at  a  loss  to  de- 
tect it,  whatever  its  surroundings  may  be.  Hence, 
it  is,  that  Macaulay  did  what  but  few  authors  of  Eng- 
lish may  be  said  to  have  done.  He  founded  and 
transmitted  an  English  prose  style  of  his  own  for  the 
introduction  of  which  he  was  as  much  responsible  as 
is  the  inventor  for  his  now  patent.  Whatever  it  was 
in  other  particulars,  it  was  novel  to  the  eye.  It  was 
Macaulayan.  In  this  respect  lie  did  what  Bacon, 
Milton,  Addison  and  Johnson  did  in  their  respective 
epochs.  lie  wrote  in  his  own  way  and  did  it  so 
effectually  as  to  establish  a  kind  of  a  standard  and-to 


406  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

gather  followers.  By  this  individual  method  in  liter- 
ary art,  he  raised  himself  immeasurably  above  the 
great  majority  of  his  contemporaries,  while  the  large 
number  of  his  imitators  in  England  and  America  tes- 
tifies to  the  importance  of  his  work. 

A  remarkable  fact  as  to  the  personality  of'  Macau- 
lay's  style  is,  that  it  was  so  developed  and  maintained 
in  the  face  of  strong  temptations  to  surrender  it.  It 
is  known  from  the  statements  of  his  biographers  that 
he  was  as  conversant  with  preceding  and  current 
literature  as  was  any  man  of  his  age.  He  was  con- 
versant with  all  the  existent  forms  of  expression 
many  of  which  had  been  accepted  as  models  by  the 
best  critical  opinion  of  the  time.  Though  his  style 
is  antithetical  as  Bacon's  was,  it  is  in  no  sense 
Baconian.  Though  it  is  clear  and  copious  as  was 
that  of  Swift  and  Addison,  it  is  in  no  sense 
Augustan. 

He  used  the  forms  of  sentence  which  Milton  and 
Johnson  used,  though  in  a  different  way,  while  satire 
with  him  was  quite  a  different  thing  from  satire 
in  the  essays  of  Lamb.  If,  as  we  are  told,  the  style 
is  the  man,  then  the  personality  of  Macaulay's  writ- 
ings must  be  assigned  a  high  rank.  A  question  of 
interest  arises  here  as  to  the  degree  in  which  in- 
dividuality of  style  is  a  test  and  mark  of  personal 
ability.  It  is  a  question  specially  difficult  to  decide  in 
the  case  of  Maoaulay.  Seasoning  abstractly,  it  must 
be  granted  that  inventiveness  of  means  and  methods, 
other  things  being  equal,  indicates  inherent  grasp  and 
power.  Historically,  however,  these  forms  of  power 
are  found  to  be  in  many  cases  quite  dissevered.  Mr. 
Morison,  in   Ins  recent  biography,  decides  this  ques- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MACAULAY.    407 

tion  against  the  author  while  admitting-  the  truth  of 
the  principle  in  theory.     "  Keal  novelty  of  style,"  he 
says,  "is  generally  a  safe  test  of  originality  of  mind 
and  character.     With  Macaulay  the  test  does  not  ex- 
tend so  far."     This  we  believe  to  be  the  safer  position. 
As  we  shall  see,  hereafter,  Macaulay's  theory  of  style 
was  such  that  he  could  easily  separate  form  from  sub- 
stance.    With    him,    therefore,    originality    of   style 
meant  simply — newness  of  method.     It  did  not  ne- 
cessarily involve  or  indicate  with  him   high  creative 
genius  in  the  sphere  of  prose.      His  style  is  original 
in  prose  as  that  of  Pope's  was  in  poetry,  not  original 
as  that  of  Milton,  Burns,  and  Wordsworth  was.     On 
this  plane,  however,  of  individuality  of  method,  he 
had  no  superior.     Despite  the  high  examples  already 
existing  in  the  persons  of  his  predecessors,  his  own 
modus  was  revolutionary  in  English  Prose.     It  was 
neither  Elizabethan  nor  Augustan,  but  Georgian  Prose. 
It  was,  in  fact,  the  inauguration  of  Modern  Prose  as 
it  dates  from  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century 
and  as  illustrated  in  the  writings  of  De  Quincey  and 
succeeding  authors.     There  was  something  about  it 
that  attracted  attention  merely  as  to  the  novelty  of 
its  form.     The  essay  and  the  history  had  never  been 
written  just  so  before  or  in  a  manner  quite  so  engag- 
ing.    Whatever  it  was  as  a  style,  it  challenged  the 
examination  of  all  those  who  were  watching  the  his- 
torical development  of  English  Prose.     There  was  a 
freshness  about  it  indicative  of  newness.     Swift  and 
Addison   were  animated  in   style  but    here  was  an 
order  of  prose  possessed  of  still  more  life  and  range. 
It  looked  forward  along  the  century  for  its  inspiration 
rather  than  to  the  times  of  the  Tudors.     It  was  a 


408  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

prose  fully  in  keeping  with  the  age  that  produced  it 
and  to  that  degree  marks  its  author  as  an  interpreter 
of  his  time.  The  notable  line  of  English  novelists 
and  essayists  that  followed  owed  something,  at 
least,  of  their  literary  success  to  the  impulses  that 
were  then  at  work.  Charles  Lamb  and  the  later 
British  Orators  largely  contributed  to  this  fresher 
impulse  in  prose. 

Mere  personality  in  literary  art  is  no  mark  of  excel- 
lence. It  may  belong  to  authors  of  second  and  third- 
rite  excellence.  Robert  Burton  and  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  were  such  authors — original  in  style  and  in 
no  sense  models  of  prose.  In  fact,  such  personality, 
V  often,  takes  the  form  of  literary  eccentricity  and  is 
in  the  inverse  ratio  of  literary  power.  Real  individ- 
uality of  style  as  in  Bacon  and  Burke  must  be  but  one 
among  many  qualities  of  excellence,  developing  with 
them  and  developed  by  them.  In  this  sense  Carlyle 
and  Emerson  had  styles  of  their  own,  and  in  this 
sense,  personality  is  a  mark  of  merit.  At  this  point 
Macaulay  is  open  to  just  criticism. 

THE  CHIEF  DEFECTS  OF  iV!ACAULAY?S  PROSE. 
(1.)  Want  of  Intellectual  Depth  and  Vigor. 

It  may  be  said  with  safety  that  the  trend  of  all 
later  criticism  of  our  author's  style  is  in  this  direction. 
Critics  are  well  nigh  agreed  that  the  true  test  here 
must  be  at  the  intellectual  point  and  that  the  test 
exposes  radical  defect.  Tn  confirmation  of  this  view, 
some  particulars  may  be  noted. 

(a)  Macaulay' s  Theory  of  Style  was  sitperficM. 


RE  PRE  SENT  A  TIVE    WRITERS. — MA  CA  ULA  Y.      409 

We  have  alluded  to  the  philosophic  distinction  that 
De  Quincey  makes  in  his  Essay  on  Style,  between 
Mechanology  and  Organology.  By  the  first  is  meant, 
that  the  main  element  in  style  is  grammatical  struc- 
ture; that  style  is  purely  an  external  thing  subject 
to  rigid  rule  and  that  the  main  object  of  literary  ex- 
pression's artistic  form  in  order  to  gratify  the  aesthetic 
taste  of  the  reader  On  this  basis,  the  French  theory 
as  to  the  virtue  of  embellishment  as  an  end  in  itself 
is  correct  and  the  chief  aim  of  the  writer  is  figurative 
finish. 

By  Organology  is  meant,  that  matter  controls  form ; 
that  the  writer's  main  purpose  is  to  express  his 
thought  and  himself:  that  language  is  a  medium  only 
and  not  an  end;  that  external  adornment  is  good  in 
its  place  but  incidental;  that  the  grammatical  is 
secondary  to  the  rhetorical  and  literary,  in  a  word, 
that  Discourse  is  the  expression  of  intellectual  life. 
It  is  organic. 

Of  these  two  methods,  Macaulay's  prose  illustrates 
mainly  the  first — the  constructive  theory  of  style  in- 
stead of  the  vital  and  natural.  Whatever  the  author's 
pretensions  were,  this  was  his  uniform  literary  prac- 
tice. Hence,  his  essays  and  history,  as  stated,  are  so 
often  unduly  pictorial.  Copiousness  runs  into  re- 
dundancy; antithesis,  into  mechanism;  prose  into 
poetry  and  we  are  often  at  a  loss  to  separate  the 
writer  from  the  mere  artist.  That  all  true  style  is 
based  on  thought  and  governed  by  it,  and  is  worthless 
as  a  theory  in  and  for  itself,  Macaulay  seemed  to  have 
ignored.  The  great  thing  was  the  form.  Even  his- 
torical facts  themselves  were  made  to  yield  to  this 
ruling   passion    for    artistic    presentation.      He    was 


410  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

determined  as  in  Bacon  and  other  essays  to  be  read- 
able whether  he  was  reliable  or  not.  So  dominant 
is  this  theory  that  it  finally  leads  to  moral  perver- 
sion. No  one  thoroughly  conversant  with  Macaulay's 
method  can  fail  to  note  this  servitude  to  the  aesthetic 
theory  of  style.  Words  for  words'  sake — Structure 
for  structure's  sake. — An  epigram  at  all  hazards. 
Art  as  mere  art, — this  is  the  ideal.  Style,  he  would 
tell  us,  is  the  art  of  verbal  execution.  All  this,  it 
will  be  noted,  is  strictly  uninteUectual  in  the  sphere  of 
discourse,  and  here  the  method  must  be  sharply  con- 
demned. Nothing  could  be  more  foreign  to  the  true 
theory  of  style,  as  the  expression  of  thought,  than  this 
unsubstantial  theory,  and  it  has  done  untold  evil. 
Mention  has  been  made  of  the  author's  popularity  in 
his  own  and  subsequent  times  and  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  those  who  are  pleased  to  shape  their  literary 
methods  on  his.  This  is  all  true.  It  is  not  to  be 
forgotten,  however,  that  on  a  different  theory  of 
style,  he  would  have  had  a  far  more  excellent  con- 
stituency and  would  have  been  a  far  greater  aid  to 
the  ambitious  writer.  Few  things  are  more  unfortu- 
nate in  a  literary  point  of  view  than  that  this  writer's 
theory  of  style  which  dissevers  idea  from  form  has 
received  such  sanction  from  such  high  authority. 
Macaulay  has  great  merits  as  a  writer.  These  have 
been  stated.  He  filled  a  most  important  place  and 
did  a  worthy  work  but  it  is  ever  to  be  urged  that  his 
view  of  style  was,  after  all,  the  lower  and  not  the 
higher  one,  based  on  taste  rather  than  intellect  and 
requiring  for  its  illustration  nothing  of  the  great 
qualities  of  mind.  It  was  fortunate  that  he  was  not 
writing  in  the  days  of  Bacon,   when  English  was  in 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.— MA  CA  ULA  Y.      41 1 

shaping  for  permanent  use  and.  especially  fortunate 
that  even  as  he  wrote  such,  men  as  De  Qnincey  were 
also  writing  and  strenuously  insisting  that  the  first 
thing  in  literary  style  is  the  mental  life  beneath  it, 

(b)  His  Cast  of  mind  as  an  author  was  ceslhetic 
rather  than  logical. 

The  more  closely  we  examine  the  inner  nature  of 
the  author's  mind,  the  more  clearly  it  will  appear 
that  Macaulay,  as  a  writer,  or  a  man,  cannot  be 
ranked  among  the  intellectual  powers  of  England,  as 
Hooker,  Bacon,  Milton  and  Burke  can  be.  He  had 
little  of  that  intellectual  grasp  and  reach  which 
marked  such  men.  He  is  inferior  here  even  to  Addi- 
son and  far  inferior  to  the  strong-minded  Johnson. 

There  are  many  facts  in  Macaulay's  literary  life 
indicative  of  this. 

As  to  the  particular  hind  of  reading  to  which  he 
was  most  addicted,  we  know  that  it  was  fiction  and 
poetry  and  the  elegant  literature  of  Europe,  rather 
than  that  order  of  reading  to  which  Bacon  refers  as 
he  says  "Studies  serve  for  ability."  His  contempt  of 
all  forms  of  truth  that  might  be  called  philosophical 
or  abstract,  is  well  known.  He  spoke  in  more  than 
offensive  terms  of  the  sages  of  Greece  and  simply 
pitied  the  man  who  could  seem  to  find  in  their  pages 
any  kind  of  profit  or  pleasure. 

His  essay  on  Bacon  is  an  indignant  protest 
against  the  utility  of  all  higher  study  and  ere  he  is 
done  he  denounces  all  the  philosophers  as  worse  than 
useless.  He  speaks  of  metaphysics  as  Hamilton  does 
of  mathematics  and  with  as  little  sense.  Macaulay's 
criticisms  here  were  harmless  in  that  they  were  based 
on  prejudice  and  total  ignorance. 


412  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

His  order  of  mind  was  not  sufficiently  speculative 
to  lead  him  to  inquire  into  the  philosophy  of  any 
theory.  He  preferred  history,  and  even  there,  the 
romantic  phase  of  it.  He  had  no  idea  of  the  philo- 
sophy of  history.  Few  things  are  more  notable  in 
Macaulay's  best  prose  than  the  absence  of  generaliza- 
tion. He  knew  little  of  logic  and  cared  less  for  it. 
The  idea  of  pursuing  an  argument  dispassionately 
through  the  gradation  of  proof  to  the  end  rarely  en- 
tered his  mind.  He  preferred  the  euthymeme  to  the 
full  syllogism  and  often  concealed  therein  his  specious 
reasoning.  He  discussed  men  and  measures  but  not 
germinal  principles.  He  followed  processes  and 
methods  regardless  of  the  laws  on  which  they  are 
based.  The  History  of  England,  in  so  far  as  method 
is  concerned,  is  narrative  and  descriptive.  As  Pope 
would  express  it — "  it  never  deviates  "  into  the  phil- 
osophical. Causes  and  effects  stand  by  themselves. 
So,  in  the  historical  essays  as  in  those  that  are 
controversial,  there  is  the  same  lack  of  breadth  of 
brow  while  as  a  critic  he  is  hereby  made  an  unsafe 
leader.  All  this  is  in  the  line  of  intellectual  weak- 
ness, and  as  we  read  we  long  for  the  Baconian  order 
of  style. 

In  fine,  Macaulay  was  an  accomplished  literary 
designer.  His  originality  was  confined  to  ways  and 
means.  He  combined  the  novelist,  poet,  journalist 
and  general  prose  writer  in  one  personality.  As  a 
union  of  forms  this  has  value  and  marks  some  inven- 
tive power.  Had  he  added,  however,  some  qualities 
eminently  intellectual,  his  influence  would  have  been 
more  than  doubled. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— MAC  AULA  Y.     413 


(2.)  Want  of  Ethical  Earnestness  and  Aim. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  prose  of  Maoanlay  is, 
to  a  good  degree,  emotive  and  animated.  The  criti- 
cism which  questions  this  is  astray  from  fact.  The 
point  is,  as  to  the  source  and  quality  of  this  feeling. 
Here,  we  must  answer  that  it  is  purely  literary  rather 
than  moral.  It  is  taste  and  taste  only  that  controls. 
The  impassioned  element  is  not  born  out  of  the  inner 
recesses  of  the  soul  as  the  home  of  the  ethical  in- 
stincts. Biographers  tell  us  of  the  weakness  of  his 
devotion  to  the  truth;  of  his  lack  of  the  "stronger 
passion"  and  of  the  comparative  looseness  of  his 
view  of  life.  Those  who  have  read  Maoanlay  for 
years  and  not  discovered  this  have  been  desultory 
readers.  Such  will  be  surprised  to  note  throughout 
an  almost  studied  evasion  of  what  Wordsworth  calls 
"high-thinking" — an  indifferent  acceptance  of  the 
world  as  it  is  without  any  special  anxious  concern  as 
to  its  probable  future. 

We  read  Macaulay's  prose  for  certain  ends  and  we 
secure  them — narrative  and  descriptive  skill,  correct- 
ness of  .structure,  copiousness  of  diction  and  general 
artistic  excellence.  If  we  look  for  the  presence  of  a 
governing  moral  purpose  as  a  writer,  we  fail  to  find 
it.  What  we  may  call  the  literary  conscience  as  it 
existed  iu  Milton  and  Addison  is  an  undeveloped 
faculty.  He  writes  on  Byron  and  Bunyan  with  equal 
ease  and  is  satisfied  with  the  result  quite  apart,  from 
any  searching  analysis  of  character.  His  indignation 
at  Hastings  is  political  more  than  moral.  His  refer- 
ences  to   Roman    Catholicism   and   to   the    English 


4U  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Reformation  are  alike  in  verbal  taste  while  he 
utterly  fails  in  the  discussion  of  such  a  subject  as 
Milton  or  Hampden  or  the  great  Puritan  order  to 
grasp  the  sublime  moral  issues  at  stake  in  those 
times  or  the  heroic  chai*acter  of  the  men  behind 
them.  Macau  lay  was  moral  in  character  and  in 
literary  style.  He  never  offended  in  this  regard  as 
Swift  and  Smollett  have  done.  His  pages  are  as 
clean  as  those  of  any  English  author.  He  is  open 
to  criticism,  however,  in  that  this  ethical  quality 
finds  no  pervasive  or  definite  expression  in  his  prose. 
At  this  point  it  is  negative  and  unsatisfactory.  As 
Morison  phrases,  he  has  nothing  for  us  "  when  our 
light  is  low."  No  prominent  writer  of  English  Prose 
has  been  so  free  from  any  offense  against  moral  taste 
and  yet  so  devoid  of  a  decided  moral  impulse  and 
purpose.  The  reader  is  scarcely  the  better  or  the 
worse,  ethically,  from  the  perusal  of  his  papers.  He 
leaves  us  on  moral  questions  just  where  he  found  us. 
He  does  not  openly  and  enthusiastically  defend  any 
great  religious  principle  for  the  sake  of  the  principle 
itself  or  denounce  any  great  evil  because  it  is  an  evil. 
Such  matters  he  delegates  to  those  whose  official 
business  makes  it  their  duty.  His  work  is  literary 
and  that  only.  His  prose  gives  no  evidence  of  that 
Miltonic  spirit  which  led  the  great  Puritan  to  do  all 
his  literary  work  with  an  ethical  aim  as  "  ever  in  his 
great  Task-Master's  eye." 

Present  and  Prospective  Rank  of  his  Prose  Style. 

It  is  a  remark  common  among  English  critics  of 
the  present   day,   that   Macaulay's  influence   in  the 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS. — MA CA  ULA  Y.      41 5 

world  of  prose  letters  is  on  the  wane  and  will,  in  the 
near  future,  quite  disappear.  It  is  argued  that  his 
fame  hitherto  has  been  out  of  all  proportion  to  his 
merits  and  that  a  more  intelligent  estimate  of  lit- 
erary prose  will  assign  him  to  his  proper  place  of 
inferiority. 

Such  views  as  these  are  current  enough  to  demand 
attention.  Extreme  as  they  are  in  the  form  of  their 
statement,  there  is  an  element  of  sober  truth  in  them 
as  in  similar  views  relative  to  the  probable  future  of 
Dickens  and  Eliot  in  prose  fiction. 

We  have  called  attention  to  the  main  merits  of 
his  style.  As  far  as  they  go,  they  are  merits  on  the 
basis  of  which  much  of  Macaulay's  past  and  present 
renown  is  built.  More  than  this,  some  of  them  are- 
such  fundamental  qualities  of  style  and  withal  so 
comparatively  rare,  that  the  presence  of  them  must 
insure  a  good  degree  of  literary  prominence.  No 
style,  for  example,  can  exhibit  narrative  and  descrip- 
tive excellence  as  Macaulay's  does  and  be  said  to  be 
inferior  or  doomed  to  speedy  disappearance.  His 
prose  as  it  reads  to-day  is  representative  English  Prose, 
though  not  necessarily  in  all  respects  a  model  form. 
It  has  enough  excellences  to  give  it  commanding 
place  and  to  insure  it  against  extinction. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  two  cardinal  defects  to 
which  we  have  alluded  are  so  serious  in  their  nature 
as  to  make  the  exact  place  of  the  author's  prose  in 
English  Letters  an  open  question.  Even  as  an  ex- 
pression of  true  literary  art,  its  want  of  intellectual 
depth  would  preclude  its  occupying  the  first  rank  as 
does  that  of  De  Quincey,  while  the  absence  of  the 
ethical  element  in  spirit  and  purpose  would  rank  it 


•41G  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

below  the  prose  of  Addison.  The  best  that  can  be 
said  for  it  is  that  by  reason  of  its  manifest  defects  it 
cannot  be  placed  first,  and  by  reason  of  its  manifest 
merits  it  must  be  placed  among  those  specimens  of 
English  which  we  call  representative  or  leading. 

He  was  in  every  sense  what  the  French  mean  by 
the — litterateur — a  man  of  letters  for  letters'  sake — 
a  lover  of  literary  art.  As  such,  he  will  always  be 
read  and  especially  by  those  in  early  manhood  and 
womanhood.  Probably  no  English  writer  is  to-day 
so  influential  in  molding  the  prose  style  of  academic 
students  as  is  Macaulay.  His  prose  lies  so  on  the 
border  land  between  prose  and  verse  as  to  escape  the 
dullness  of  the  one  and  the  meaningless  fancy  of  the 
other.  It  is  sufficiently  solid  and  serious  while  not 
prosaic  and  sufficiently  attractive  and  figurative 
while  not  romantic. 

Such  an  order  of  poetic  prose  will  command  large 
numbers  of  readers  and  shape  their  style.  The  read- 
able will  be  read  despite  all  theory  and  defect.  This 
being  so,  it  is  well  that  the  author's  prose  is  as  good 
as  it  is.  With  all  its  faults  it  has  high  merit.  It  is 
clear,  copious,  facile  and  finished.  It  has  delighted 
thousands  of  readers  and  fascinated  not  a  few,  and 
while  devoid  of  Baconian  strength  is  marked  by  sorae 
of  the  best  qualities  of  standard  English  style. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Morison's  Macaulay  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.).  Minto's 
Manual  of  Eng.  Prose.  Life  and  Letters  (Trevelyan). 
Essays  of  Bayne  and  Whipple. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  THOMAS  DE  QUINCEY. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  in  Manchester,  Aug.  15th,  1785.  In  the  gram- 
mar-school at  Bath.  In  London,  poor  and  unknown. 
At  Oxford,  1803-8.  Thence,  to  the  English  Lakes  at 
Grasmere.  Went  to  Scotland  (Lassuade)  1843.  Died 
in  Edinburgh,  Dec.  8th,  1859. 

The  Miscellaneous  Character  of  his  Prose  Works. 

Prof.  Masson  in  his  admirable  life  of  De  Quincey 
notes  the  fact  that  his  literary  work  was  mainlv 
periodical ;  that  his  books  were  projected  rather  than 
completed  and  tbat  "  as  Shakespeare  may  be  described 
as  the  author  of  about  thirty-seven  plays,  so  may  De 
Quincey  be  said  to  be  the  author  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  magazine  articles." 

It  is  this  diversity  or  copiousness  of  our  author's 
prose  that  first  impresses  the  careful  reader  and  in- 
vites examination. 

The  special  classification  which  Prof.  Masson  gives 
is  worthy  of  note  and  may  be  said  to  embrace  all  the 
products  of  the  author's  pen. 


418  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

I. — Descriptive,  Biographical  and  Historical. 
II. — Speculative,  Didactic  and  Critical. 
III. — Imaginative  Writings  and  Prose  Poetry. 

This  division  is  founded  on  one  proposed  by  De 
Quincey  himself.  He  suggested  that  a  portion  of  his 
essays  was  designed  to  deal  with  fact  and  incident 
for  the  special  purpose  of  amusing;  a  portion,  to 
present  the  purely  intellectual  view  of  things,  and 
another  portion  still,  to  reach  and  affect  the  feelings. 
He  adopted,  in  fine,  the  old  triple  division  of  the 
human  faculties  into — Intellect,  Feeling,  Will  and 
Taste,  and  addressed  himself  in  turn  to  these  respec- 
tive forms. 

This  periodical  character  of  his  writings  carries 
the  reader  back  to  Augustan  days.  We  are  reminded 
of  Addison  and  Steele;  of  De  Foe  and  Swift  and  of 
the  later  Johnsonian  school.  The  similarity,  how- 
ever, is  simply  one  of  external  form.  Miscellaneous 
Prose  meant  with  De  Quincey  something  quite  differ- 
ent from  what  it  meant  with  the  earlier  authors.  It 
was  distinct  in  subject  matter,  method  and  general 
style  and,  as  to  rank,  marks  a  higher  order  of  prose. 
It  has  some  points  in  common  with  the  style  of 
Ma  caul  ay,  whose  death,  in  the  same  year  as  that  of 
Dc;  Quincey,  marks  their  lives  as  covering  substanti- 
ally the  same  literary  period.  Even  here,  however,  Ma- 
paulay  was  not  the  equal  of  his  gifted  contemporary. 

There  is  scarcely  a  topic  within  the  range  of  the 
:nrrent  literature  of  the  time  which  this  voluminous 
essayist  did  not  present.     It  is  known  from  his  bio- 
graphy what  a  student  and  reader  he  was.     Whether 
in  London  or  in  Edinburgh  or  at  the  Lakes,  he  was 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS— DE   QUINCE Y.    419 

diligently  at  work  in  enlarging  the  bounds  of  his 
knowledge.  Southey  speaks  of  him  as  "  better  in- 
formed than  almost  any  person  he  had  ever  met  at 
History,  Travels,  Biography,  Fiction,  Poli- 
tics, Metaphysics,  Theology  and  Poetry,  all  received 
heir  full  share  of  attention.  While  at  Oxford,  he  is 
Baid  to  have  been  noted  for  his  quiet  and  studious 
habits,  .aid  even  at  this  early  period  was  looked  upon 
by  the  heads  of  the  university  as  a  marvel  in  the 
line  of  I  information.     To  all  this  knowledge 

of  books  he    aided  not  a  little  through  the  medium 
of  travel  and  keen-eyed  observation. 

laneous  character  of  De  Quincey's  prose 
gave  natural  origin  both  to  merits  and  blemishes  of 
styl -\     \Y'    i  >te  as  to 

MERITS  OF  HIS  STYLE. 

(1.)  Variety  and  Flexibility  of  Style. 

This  very  versatility  of  theme  already  suggested 

would  call  I   r  a  corresponding  versatility  of  method 

an.  t.     Rhetorical  sameness  would  seem  to 

i  here.     The  biographical  gives  frequent 

s  descriptive,  and  the  impassioned,  to  the 

■  the  prose  itself  is  often  so  imaginative 

r    on    the    poetic.     If  one    is    somewhat 

ried  iu  the  perusal  of  his  paper    on — The  Essence 

i   Oracles,    he    may    easily    turn    to    the 

■aphic  Sketches,  or  to  the  Confessions,  for 

relief.      11  is  Theory  of  Greek  Tragedy  may  give  place 

to— Murder    as  One    of  the    Fine   Arts— and    to  his 

paper  on,  The  English  Mail  Coach.     In  fact,  there  is 


420  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

here  a  full-spread  literary  feast.  The  opportunity 
for  choice  is  unlimited.  It  is  the  European  Plan  of 
diet  applied  to  English  Letters.  One  may  call  for 
what  he  most  prefers  and  it  is  forthcoming.  Such  a 
style,  whatever  it  has  or  has  not,  cannot  be  accused 
of  insipidity  or  dullness.  There  is  the  utter  absence 
of  uniformity  or  of  any  one  method  so  unyielding  as 
to  defy  change.  Even  that  stiffness  of  movement  and 
apparent  mechanism  seen  at  times  in  Addison  is 
absent  here.  The  Johnsonian  heaviness  of  tread  is 
not  audible.  There  is  the  lighter  movement  of  Swift 
and  Lamb  and  a  flexibility  of  method  not  possessed 
as  fully  by  any  literary  predecessor.  It  is  extremely 
easy,  however,  for  such  versatility  to  overreach  itself 
and  become  superficial. 

(2.)  Its  English  Element. 

Devoted  as  he  was  to  the  speculations  of  the  Ger- 
mans, he  preferred  the  writings  of  native  authors  to 
all  others,  and  at  Oxford  is  found  carefully  system- 
atizing his  studies  in  this  direction  He  may  be  said 
to  be  the  first  prominent  English  writer  who  even 
made  the  attempt  to  reduce  the  study  of  English 
'Letters  to  a  ■philosophical  basis.  The  work  partially 
begun  by  Dryden.  Johnson  and  Charles  Lamb,  he 
carried  on  to  satisfactory  limits  in  common  with 
Coleridge  and  Southey,  so  that  on  the  basis  of  it  we 
have  now  the  philosophic  method  as  the  most  prom- 
inent one  in  such  a  line  of  study.  The  historical 
method  is  subordinate.  The  literature  of  Knowledge 
is  secondary  to  that  of  Power. 

Referring  to  his  early  acquaintance  with  the  most 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DE   QUINCE Y.     421 

prominent  authors  of  all  times  and  his  consequent 
mental  resources,  he  remarks  "that  any  vanity  con- 
nected with  power  so  rarely  attained,  was  in  him 
absolutely  swallowed  up  in  the  tremendous  hold 
taken  of  his  entire  sensibilities  by  his  own  English 
Literature."  In  giving  an  account  of  his  father's 
library,  he  says — "One  thing  was  valuable — all  the 
books  were  English."  Nor  was  this  a  blind  devotion 
to  native  authors  at  the  expense  of  a  knowledge  of 
all  others.  As  already  seen,  De  Qnincey  was  thor- 
oughly versed  in  the  best  that  had  been  written  and 
said,  and  thus  fulfilled  Matthew  Arnold's  ideal  of  the 
cultured  man.  Many  of  his  best  papers  are  on  the 
classical  and  continental  authors  and  on  questions 
quite  foreign  to  anything  British.  His  position  was 
simply  one  of  intelligent  preference  for  home  product 
in  literature.  He  ingenuously  believed  that  no  an- 
cient or  modern  nation  had  so  worthy  a  list  of  authors^ 
as  England  had  and  was  glad  to  have  his  judgment 
and  affections  so  happily  combined.  It  always 
grieved  him  to  see  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  so 
many  of  his  countrymen  to  decry  English  authorship 
in  favor  of  anything  foreign.  It  was  under  this  feel- 
ing that  he  breaks  out  in  Biblical  phrase — "Are  Abana 
and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all  the 
waters  of  Israel?"  As  early  as  at  fifteen  years  of 
age,  he  is  familiar  with  the  leading  English  poets, 
while  in  his  more  mature  years,  his  affection  for 
Wordsworth  and  his  school  rose  to  the  intensity  of 
passionate  devotion. 

When  a  student  at  Oxford,  he  is  pained  at  the  de- 
ficiency of  the  Oxonians  in  the  literature  of  their 
vernacular.     "  It  is,"  ho   says,  "  a  pitiable  spectacle 


422  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

to  any  man  of  sense  and  feeling  who  happens  to  be 
familiar  with  the  treasures  of  his  own  literature,  and 
a  spectacle  which  alternately  moves  scorn  and  sorrow, 
to  see  young  people  spending  their  time  upon  writers 
most  unlit  to  unloose  the  shoe-latchets  of  many 
among  their  own  early  authors.  Surely  it  is  time 
that  these  follies  were  at  an  end;  that  our  practice 
was  made  to  square  a  little  better  with  our  profes- 
sion and  that  our  pleasures  were  sincerely  drawn  from 
those  sources  in  which  we  pretend  that  they  lie."  In 
writing  his  varied  papers  on  English  Letters  and 
Men  of  Letters,  it  is  not  strange  to  find  a  kind  of 
eulogium  and  enthusiasm  far  too  rare  among  our 
literary  critics.  He  speaks  of  The  Canterbury  Tales 
as  "a  work  that  has  not  been  rivaled  and  probably 
will  not  be,  on  our  planet."  Spenser,  Beaumont, 
Fletcher,  Pope,  Dryden,  Addison  and  Swift,  in  turn 
receive  encomiums  while  he  seems  to  fail  in  his  at- 
tempt properly  to  exalt  the  names  of  Milton  and 
Shakespeare.  After  nobly  defending  Milton  against 
the  charge  of  pedantry  and  adherence  to  pagan  forms, 
he  sums  up  his  view  in  the  words, — "  Milton  is  not  an 
author  among  authors,  but  a  power  among  powers. 
The  Paradise  Lost  is  not  a  poem  among  poems, 
but  a  central  force  among  forces." 

In  the  presence  of  Shakespeare  he  seems  con- 
founded as  before  "the  most  august  among  created 
intellects,"  ami  as  he  looks  with  ever  increasing 
wonder,  remarks — "  Reader,  nothing  greater  can  be 
imagined."  In  fact,  he  was  at  heart  a  genuine  son 
of  the  soil.  He  prefers  Chaucer  to  Boccaccio;  Spenser 
to  Tasso;  Shakespeare  to  Goethe;  the  essays  of  Ad- 
dison to  those  of  Martineau;  the  critical  opinions  of 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.—  DE   QUINCE Y.    423 

Dryden  to  those  of  Boileau,  and  the  Lake  Lyrists  to 
Schiller  at  his  best. 

All  this  makes  De  Quincey's  style  characteristically 
English.  He  escaped  the  extreme  in  each  direction. 
While  acknowledging  all  that  was  worthy  of  imita- 
tion in  foreign  tongues,  he  never  lowered  his  own 
language  from  the  place  of  honor.  His  diction  is 
largely  native.  His  structure  and  general  method 
are  native.  The  object  of  his  writing  was  largely  to 
exalt  that  which  was  home  born,  while  no  careful 
student  of  his  pages  can  fail  to  feel  the  English  spirit 
and  impulse  which  beneath  all  that  is  external 
controls  the  thought  and  inner  life  of  the  author. 

(3.)  Its  Intellectual  Character. 

At  this  point,  the  style  of  De  Quincey  is  sharply 
contrasted  with  that  of  Macaulay  and  the  contrast 
is  in  the  former's  favoi\  We  are  dealing  now  with 
an  author  whose  words  are  well  weighed,  whose 
object  is  impressive  rather  than  expressive  and  who 
believed  that  men  are  to  be  reached  by  rational 
methods. 

"  For  my  own  part,"  he  says  "  I  may  affirm  that  my 
life  has  been  on  the  whole,  the  life  of  a  philosopher; 
from  my  birth  I  was  made  an  intellectual  creature; 
and  intellectual  in  the  highest  sense  my  pursuits  and 
pleasure  have  been."  Elsewhere  in  his  writings  he 
seems  to  use  this  term — intellectual — with  similar 
emphasis.  His  use  of  it  would  seem  to  indicate  his 
devoted  fondness  for  the  pursuit  of  truth.  He  has 
been  well  styled  a — polyhistor. 

His  desire  for  knowledge  was  insatiable  and  he  was 


424  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

never  happier  than  when  opening  up  some  new  mine 
of  information.  Mere  knowledge  however,  is  not  all 
that  this  word  includes  with  him.  It  designates  an 
order  of  mind  and  style  that  is  substantial  rather  than 
superficial.  It  intimates  the  presence  of  disciplined 
faculties  and  the  presence  of  thought.  One  is  struck 
in  this  respect  with  the  high-class  character  of  the 
topics  discussed  in  the  miscellaneous  papers  of  the 
author.  As  a  rule,  they  have  to  do  with  the  most 
weighty  problems  of  human  life.  Outside  of  these 
examples  that  are  purely  humorous  and  so  designed, 
the  themes  are  serious  and  substantial.  As  Masson 
has  well  phrased  it,  "  It  was  De  Quincey's  laudable 
habit  to  put  brain  into  all  his  articles."  In  this  par- 
ticular, his  periodicals  are  far  superior  to  those  of 
Augustan  days.  Steele  and  Addison  were  obliged, 
in  deference  to  what  Mr.  Courthope  calls  "  the  social 
style"  to  choose  an  order  of  subject  and  line  of  dis- 
cussion somewhat  lighter  than  was  now  appropriate. 
Even  the  sober-minded  Johnson  is  not  as  intellectual 
in  his  themes  as  is  De  Quincey. 

It  will  be  of  profit  here,  to  note  some  of  the  forms 
in  which  this  special  characteristic  of  the  author's 
style,  as  mental,  manifested  itself  in  his  literary  work. 

(a)    Analytic  Skill  and  Philosophic  Discussion. 

The  author  makes  a  formal  claim  to  the  posses- 
sion of  this  feature  of  mind  and  style  and  has  done  a 
service  to  English  Prose  in  this  respect  that  is  of 
high  value.  He  thoroughly  endorses  what  may  be 
termed — method  in  writing,  as  distinct  from  that  loose 
manner  of  expression  so  common  in  our  literature 
and  far  too  frequent  even  in  standard  authors.  He 
saw  no  great  danger  in  the  divisions  and  subdivis- 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS.— DE  QUINCEY.      425 

ions  of  a  theme,   if  indeed,   they  were  natural  and 
moderate.     He  would  as  much  condemn  the  ignoring 
of  them  as  he  would  that  extreme  use  of  them  pre- 
valent among  the  divines  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
His  mind  was  of  the  logical  order  and  when  he  wrote, 
he   wrote   on   some   well  defined  plan  and  purpose. 
He  condemns  Hazlitt  because  he  is  "discontinuous." 
He  rebukes  Lamb  for  the  same  literary  offense.     "  No 
man,"  he  says,  "  can  be  eloquent  whose  thoughts  are 
abrupt,  insulated  and  capricious."     He  is  opposed  to 
what    Coleridge    calls    "  the    non-sequacious "    style. 
He  advocates  a  style  in  which  the  regular  progression 
of  the  ideas  is  ever  visible ;  in  which  the  relation  of 
cause  and  effect,  process  and  product  is  seen  through- 
out.    It  is  to  be  conceded,    here,    that  De  Quincey 
indulges  too  freely,  as  Swift  and  Bacon  did,  in  digres- 
sions from  the  main  issue  and  becomes  thereby  his 
own  judge.     His  essay  on — Hamilton,  is  an  illustra- 
tion in  point.     After  a  half-dozen  pages  of  irrelevant 
matter,   he   informs  the   reader  that  he  is  about  to 
begin.     After  a  dozen  pages  more  of  matter  still  less 
relevant,  he  coolly  states  that  he  will  ignore  all  that 
has  been  given  and  begin  anew.     He  begins  anew 
and  again   deviates.     Had  De  Quincey  penned  this 
ay  in  Pope's  time,  he  would  have  been  one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  Dunciad.     This  digressiveness,  however, 
is  quite  exceptional,  and  even  as  it  does  exist  is  fully 
justified   by  some  critics  as  a  relief  from  the    strict 
regularity  of  the  style.     In   the   main,    he   is   clear 
acuti>  and  orderly.      He  had  a  deep  insight  into  char- 
acter and  topic,   which  he  calls  "an  inner  eye  and 
power  of  intuition  for  the  unseen."     He  had  that  men- 
tal acumen  which  found  such  fitting  exercise  in  the 


426  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

study  of  men.  Some  of  his  biographical  papers  finely 
illustrate  this  analysis  of  character.  Those  on  Plato, 
Herodotus,  Kant,  Shakespeare  and  Pope  are  in  point. 
He  detects  at  once  the  main  features  of  the  subject 
and  presents  them  in  their  true  distinctness.  A  no- 
table example  of  this  is  his  paper  on — The  True  Re- 
lations of  the  Bible  to  Human  Science — in  which  he 
takes  occasion  to  answer  objections  and  advance 
positive  argument.  He  ably  insists  that  the  Bible 
is  not  a  manual  of  science  or  philosophy  and  is  not  to 
be  so  studied.  In  discussing  De  Quincey's  analytic 
skill  as  a  proof  of  the  intellectual  quality  of  his  style, 
reference  is  in  place  to  his  critical  power.  He  had 
the  independence  of  a  true  critic  and,  we  may  add, 
that  wealth  of  historic  and  scholarly  information  on 
which  all  true  criticism  rests.  Despite  all  that  he 
had  read  and  learned,  he  insisted  on  forming  and  ap- 
plying his  own  opinions  for  himself.  This  sometimes 
led  him  into  error,  but  in  the  main  was  a  safe  guide. 
When  of  the  philosophy  of  Plato  he  says — "  that  it 
moves  at  all  only  by  its  cumbrous  superfluity  of 
words;"  when  he  speaks  of  Goethe  as  designedly 
using  the  enigmatical  to  perplex  his  readers  and 
refers  to  Barton  and  Taylor  and  Browne  as  the  great 
models  of  English  style,  we  feel  that  his  analysis 
is  defective  and  his  consequent  criticism  fallacious. 
When  he  tells  us  as  to  the  Essenes,  that  no  such 
sect  ever  existed  as  reported  by  Josephus,  that  Judas 
Iscariot  was  a  morbid  fanatic  more  than  a  wilfull 
traitor,  and  when  in  his  papers  on  Cicero  and  the 
Pagan  Oracles,  he  propounds  views  altogether  his 
own,  his  independence  is  at  the  expense  of  sound 
judgment.     In  the  line   of  literary  criticism,    how- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DE   QUINCE Y.      427 

ever,  De  Quincey  is  a  master.  "No  English  writer,"' 
says  Masson,  "has  left  a  finer  body  of  disquisition  on 
the  science  and  principles  of  criticism."  We  speak 
unadvisedly  of  Matthew  Arnold  as  the — father  of 
Modern  English  Literary  Criticism.  This  honor  be- 
longs to  Dryden  and  De  Quincey.  Allusion  has  been 
made  to  his  early  study  of  English  authors  on  the 
philosophical  basis.  He  began,  at  once,  to  analyze 
the  style  and  the  man;  to  note  the  defects  and  the 
excellences  and  the  causes  of  them;  to  give  a  rational 
explanation  of  style  on  the  basis  of  wide  established 
principles  of  expression.  The  amateur  critics  of  the 
Augustan  Age  knew  little  of  this.  Even  the  founders 
of  the  Edinburgh  Review  and  their  respective  schools 
were  inferior  to  De  Quincey  in  this  analytic  method 
of  criticism.  He  reduced  what  he  did  to  a  well  de- 
fined science  and  proceeded  according  to  law.  One 
may  almost  choose  at  random  from  his  papers  to 
illustrate  this  habit.  He  gives  us  in  his  papers  on 
Rhetoric,  Style  and  Language,  the  exact  theory  on 
which  he  advances.  He  calls  no  style  excellent  in 
which  the  thought  is  not  controlling.  He  sharply 
protests  against  the  mechanical  element  in  expression 
and  contends  that  all  true  expression  is  an  organic 
process  by  which  the  inner  soul  of  the  writer  is  set 
forth.  It  is  in  this  connection  that  he  makes  his 
favorite  distinction  between  The  Literature  of  Knowl- 
edge and  The  Literature  of  Power;  between  The 
Principia  and  The  Paradise  Lost. 

In  no  one  theoi*y  is  De  Quincey's  intellectual  char- 
acter seen  more  fully  than  in  the  fact  that  as  a 
writer  and  a  critic  of  the  writings  of  others  he  insists 
that  style  is  essentially  intellectual — the  embodiment 


428  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

and  expression  of  thought,  and  not  a  mere  external 
adornment  or  the  mere  use  of  words  with  nothing  in 
them  or  behind  them. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  no  body  of  miscellaneous 
prose  can  be  more  safely  commended  to  young  men 
as  a  gnide,  in  that  it  is  based  on  this  cardinal  prin- 
ciple of  the  supremacy  of  intellect  in  the  art  of  verbal 
expression.  Critics  have  spoken  of  the  scientific 
element  in  De  Quincey's  style.  If  by  this  is  meant, 
the  intellectual  as  distinct  from  any  other  quality, 
the  view  is  tenable.  There  is  an  analytical  exactness 
of  plan  and  statement,  a  strict  adherence  to  the 
reality  of  things  so  that  the  literary  artist  is  never 
allowed  to  supersede  the  philosopher  and  teacher  of 
truth.  Further  study  will  show  how  beautifully  this 
intellectual  element  is  combined  throughout  with 
that  artistic  grace  and  finish  by  which  the  thought 
is  made  attractive.  There  is  a  still  additional  feature 
of  this  mental  element  that  deserves  notice  and  is,  in 
fact,  the   most  important. 

(1))  Suggest iveness  or  Literary  Bichncss. 

This  is  inventive  rather  than  analytic.  It  has  to 
do  with  the  work  of  origination  as  the  highest  form 
of  intellectual  action.  Something  more  is  meant 
here  than  that  independence  of  opinion  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made  or  that  versatility  of  view 
already  mentioned.  There  is  in  the  sphere  of  prose 
that  which  in  poetry  would  be  called  creative.  It  is 
what  the  metaphysicians  call  the  power  of — original 
suggestion.  It  is  here,  as  nowhere  else,  that  the 
intellectuality  of  De  Quincey's  prose  style  is  seen. 
He  brings  to  light  and  to  being  that  which  is  his 
own.     He   follows  here    the  guidance  of  no  master. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DE   QUINCE V.      429 

He  adopts  the  creed  of  no  particular  school.  His 
work  is  unique  and  fresh.  It  is  true  that  he  had  a 
special  attachment  to  the  Lake  Poets,  and,  most 
especially,  to  Wordsworth.  The  devotion  was,  how- 
ever, in  no  sense  slavish,  but  intelligent  and  manly. 
There  is  in  his  nature  as  a  writer  a  high  degree  of 
mental  productivity.  He  was  affluent  in  his  resources. 
The  fertility  of  his  nature  might  be  compared  to  the 
rich  bottom-lands  of  some  countries  or  to  the  luxuri- 
ant vegetation  of  the  tropics.  He  has  that  quality 
in  prose  which  Mr.  Whipple  attributes  to  Shakespeare 
in  poetry — the  power  of  intimating  more  than  is 
fully  stated  and  thus  inviting  the  research  of  the 
reader.  De  Quincey  cannot  be  termed  a  profound 
writer  or  thinker  in  the  philosophical  sense  of  that 
term,  but  he  is  rich  in  his  literary  resources  and 
always  gives  the  reader  more  than  is  actually  re- 
quired. Here,  he  was  the  superior  of  Macaulay 
while  no  writer  of  the  Augustan  Age  at  all  com- 
pared with  him.  He  displayed  in  prose  that  form 
and  measure  of  mental  opulence  that  is  sometimes 
called  Elizabethan,  and  which  marked  the  dramatic 
poetry  of  that  age.  Within  the  province  of  mis- 
cellaneous prose  there  is  nothing  equal  to  it  in  En- 
glish Letters.  He  is  the  head  of  that  expressive  or 
expansive  prose  era  which  takes  its  origin  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  reaches  its  full- 
ness in  the  following  century.  It  is,  in  fine,  nine- 
teenth century  English. 

(4.)  Impassioned  Vigor. 

As  to  this  quality,  also,  the  author  makes  a  special 
claim  in  the    Preface  to  his  Autobiography.     He  is 


430  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

alluding  to  the  subject  matter  of  personal  confessions. 
He  speaks  of  the  difficulties  which  beset  the  path  of 
him  who  is  desirous  of  making  such  confessions  and 
argues  that  the  tone  of  such  composition  should 
above  all  else  be  impassioned.  He  shows  the  failure 
of  other  autobiographers  in  this  particular;  indicates 
his  faith  in  his  own  ability  in  this  direction  and 
points  the  reader  for  an  illustration  to — The  Opium 
Eater,  and — Suspiria  de  Profundis.  As  far  as  these 
two  specified  works  are  concerned  all  would  be  will- 
ing to  justify  the  author's  claim  to  emotive  writing. 
The  application  of  the  principle  may  be  extended, 
however,  and  it  will  be  seen  upon  a  true  interpreta- 
tion that  his  style  throughout  is  characterized  by 
this  feature.  We  might  naturally  expect  to  find  it, 
from  what  we  know  of  the  man  and  his  peculiar 
nature,  just  as  we  expect  to  find  it  in  Lamb,  Gold- 
smith or  Milton. 

In  many  of  its  manifestations  it  is  but  a  portraiture 
of  his  unfortunate  life.  This  quality,  in  De  Quincey's 
prose,  takes  the  two  distinct  forms  of  pathos  and 
passion.  The  one  is  subdued  and  tender.  The  other 
is  more  positive  and  vigorous.  The  one  takes  its 
character  from  the  inner  experience  of  the  man  while 
the  other  is  more  modified  by  external  influence. 

As  to  the  element  of  true  patlics,  it  is  everywhere 
apparent. 

In  his  graphic  account  of  the — Three  Memorable 
Murders,  with  their  revolting  incidents;  in  his  minute 
description  of  that  wealth  of  affection  which  he  and 
his  sister  mutually  dispensed  and  received;  in  the 
specific  narrative  of  the  distressing  circumstances 
attending  the  loss  of  their  parents  by  some  children 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DE   QUINCEY.      i?A 

on  the  English  hills  in  the  depth  of  winter;  in  the 
personal  reminiscences  he  gives  us  of  his  visits  to 
Greta  Hall  and  Rydal  Mount;  in  his  Vision  of"  Sudden 
Death  and  his  account  of  the  death  of  Wordsworth's 
daughter  and,  most  noteworthy  of  all,  in  his  affecting 
allusions  to  the  death  of  his  own  sister — in  all  these 
and  similar  writings  there  is  a  genuine  pathos  that 
marks  the  style  as  impassioned.  There  is  a  sympa- 
thetic tenderness  about  them  that  indicates  the  heart 
of  the  man  as  keenly  sensitive  to  the  deepest  feelings 
of  human  nature.  "  Not  to  be  sympathetic,"  he  says, 
"is  not  to  understand,"  and,  as  we  know,  he  prefers 
the  literature  of  power  to  that  of  knowledge,  in  that 
the  former  moves  the  soul  in  addition  to  informing 
the  mind. 

This  subdued  pathos  in  De  Quincey  is  closely  con- 
nected with  a  tendency  in  his  nature  to  the  grave 
and  mi/stcrious.  His  own  experience  of  the  ills  of 
life  and  his  observation  of  the  ills  of  others  made  it 
easy  for  him  to  incline  to  the  plaintive  and  pathetic. 
This  often  went  to  the  extreme  of  moroseness  and  a 
morbid  view  of  character  and  human  history.  When 
avoiding  this  extreme,  however,  it  lent  a  mellow  soft- 
ness to  his  nature  and  suffused  it  with  a  touching 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  his  fellows.  Their  appar- 
ently unearned  sufferings  elicited  his  deepest  sym- 
patic and  he  did  not  care  to  suppress  it.  His  fond- 
ness for  the  occult  and  mysterious  heightened  this 
temper  of  mind.  lie  had  what  Masson  calls — "the 
metaphysical  mood."  He  was  ever  moralizing  on  men 
and  things;  on  passing  events  and  personal  destiny. 
He  indulged  in  those  secret  reveries  which  so  often 
mark  the  lives  of  students  and  authors.     His  physical 


432  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

constitution  inclined  him  to  it  and  all  his  proclivities 
were  in  that  direction.  It  seemed  at  times  as  in  the 
case  of  Wordsworth,  to  take  the  form  of  superstitious 
wonder.  He  had  that  childlike  awe  and  feeling  of 
the  marvelous  which  so  prevailed  among  the  Lake 
Poets  and  to  which  the  solitude  of  the  mountains 
may  be  said  to  minister. 

All  this  was  in  the  line  of  the  emotive.  It  touched 
and  swayed  the  springs  of  feeling  within.  There  was 
l'ust  enough  of  the  religious  element  in  it  to  soften  and 
deepen  it  and  make  it  more  attractive.  De  Quincey's 
style  is  permeated  by  this  impassioned  element  on 
the  side  of  pathos. 

So,  also,  as  to  its  more  outspoken  expression  in 
passion  and  strong  mental  emotion. 

Many  of  the  best  passages  of  his  prose  are  strictly 
oratorical,  so  distinctive  is  the  element  of  feeling. 
They  read  as  if  taken  from  Burke  or  Chatham.  We 
will  find  such  examples  in  his  Autobiography,  in  his 
recital  of  the  sufferings  of  neglected  children;  in  his 
high  eulogium  on  British  womanhood;  in  his  account 
of  the  character  and  age  of  Cicero;  in  his  captivating 
narrative  of  the  heroism  of  Joan  of  Arc ;  in  his  graphic 
account  of  the  early  Christian  martyrdoms,  and  his 
description  of  Greece  in  the  Golden  Age  of  Pericles. 
At  times,  these  expressions  take  the  form  of  indig- 
nant invective.  In  speaking  of  Wordsworth's  forced 
acquaintance  with  Monsieur  Simond  whose  mer- 
cenary views  were  so  out  of  keeping  with  the  high 
theories  of  the  Lake  Poet,  he  says — "They  met  and 
saw  and  in/erdespised"  His  righteous  soul  was  stirred 
to  its  depths  by  the  manner  in  which  this  unpoetic 
Frenchman    failed  to  grasp  the  transcendent  excel- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — DE  QUINCE Y.      433 

lence    of    poetry    as    compared    with    all     material 
good. 

It  is  this  impassioned  element  that  explains  much 
of  the  potency  of  De  Quincey's  style  and  keeps  it 
fresh  among  us.  It  gives  it  that  quality  of  force 
without  which  mere  intelligibility  is  of  little  worth. 
It  most  aptly  combines  with  that  intellectual  element 
of  which  we  have  spoken  and  forms  a  rare  example 
of  prose.  Even  in  his  philosophical  and  ethical 
papers  this  feature  is  present  while  in  those  which 
have  specially  to  do  with  the  historical  personages 
and  great  public  events  it  is  conspicuous  throughout. 

(5.)  Humor  and  Satire. 

This  element  in  De  Quincey  might  be  called — 
Satirical  Humor. 

An  exquisite  example  of  it  is  given  in  his  paper  on 
— "  Murder  as  one  of  the  Fine  arts."  Beginning  with 
the  history  of  murder  in  the  act  of  Cain,  he  finds  in 
the  Age  of  Pericles  "  no  murder  of  the  slightest  merit," 
In  Rome,  he  finds  nothing  worth}'  of  distinction  and 
then  passes  over  through  the  Middle  Ages  to  the 
England  of  the  seventeenth  century.  He  gives  a 
graphic  description  of  proceedings  at  the  sumptuous 
dinners  of  the  "  Thugs"  and  of  the  famous  character — 
Toad-in-the-hole.  How  natural  the  explanation  of 
the  absence  of  the  reporter  who  had  been  murdered 
by  one  of  the  party  present  and  about  whom  inquiry 
is  made.      Non  est  inventus. 

His  advice  to  one  inclined  to  distinguish  himself 
in  manslaughter  is — Beware!  "If  once  a  man  in- 
dulge iu   murder,  he  comes  very  soon  to  think  little 


4&4  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  robbing;  from  robbing  he  comes  to  drinking  and 
Sabbath  breaking,  and  from  that  to  incivility  and  pro- 
crastination. Many  a  man  has  dated  his  ruin  from 
gome  murder  or  other  that  perhaps  he  thought  little  of 
at  the  time:  Prirxipils  obsta."  The  low  value  set  on 
human  life  and  the  low  estimate  of  the  criminality  of 
taking  it  that  prevailed  at  that  time  in  London  could 
have  been  rebuked  and  modified  in  no  better  way 
than  in  this  ot  ironical  pleasantry.  The  popular  con- 
science was  too  dull  to  receive  direct  moral  teaching 
and  it  must  be  reached  bv  indirect  methods.  The 
satire,  however,  must  be  couched  in  humor. 

In  his  paper  on — Sortilege  and  Astrology — there 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  English  Humor,  as,  also,  in 
his  serio-comic  description  of  an  "  English  Mail 
Coach." 

What  a  rich  vein  of  merriment  is  there  in  "  Dinner, 
real  and  reputed,"  as,  also,  in  the  authors  ingenious 
criticism  of  Lord  Monboddo's  theory  as  to  the  descent 
of  man  from  the  ape.  Apart  from  papers,  however, 
that  are  specifically  of  this  order,  this  double  element 
runs  through  the  style.  In  some  of  the  personal 
sketches  as  in — The  Confessions,  it  is  mingled  with 
sadness  as  it  is  in  Lamb  and  Burns,  while,  in  the 
main,  it  takes  the  form  of  a  hearty,  wholesome 
pleasantry.  Even  when  satirical,  it  is  full  of  that 
true  humanity  which  according  to  Thackeray  is 
essential  to  its  existence.  As  a  feature  of  style,  it 
lends  attractiveness  and  pointedness  and  saves  the 
prose  from  what  might  otherwise  be  conducive  to 
heaviness.  Part  of  the  readableness  of  De  Quincey's 
prose  comes  from  the  pith  of  its  irony  and  the  pleasure 
of  its  humor. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS— DE   QUINCE Y.      435 

(6.)  Pictorial  and  Artistic  Power. 

All  that  belongs  to  the  sphere  of  the  descriptive, 
imaginative  or  poetic  is  in  place  here,  as  making  up 
the  element  of  beauty  in  discourse  and  as  a  necessary 
complement  to  the  mental  and  emotive  elements 
hitherto  suggested. 

In  the  line  of  general  descriptive  skill,  we  note  in 
the  author  the  faculty  of  poetic  discernment,  the  de- 
tection of  those  hidden  analogies  that  escape  most 
men  and  through  the  medium  of  which  the  highest 
artistic  effects  may  be  secured.  He  possessed  what 
he  himself  in  the  "  Opium  E  iter"  calls — "the  higher 
faculty  of  an  electric  aptitude  for  seizing  analogies." 
Much  of  that  which  critics  have  attributed  to  the 
wide  range  of  reading  and  grasp  of  memory  is  rather 
due  to  this  "higher  faculty"  of  mental  insight — "the 
logical  instinct  for  feeling  in  a  moment  the  secret 
parallelisms  that  connected  things  apparently  re- 
mote." It  is  thus  natural  to  find  critics  as  a 
class  alluding  to  De  Quincey  as  a  model  of  exact  com- 
parison and  descriptive  sketching.  This  skill  is  very 
noticeable  in  his  portrayal  of  natural  scenery.  To 
those  who  have  lived  among  well  known  scenes,  he 
discloses  beauties  hitherto  unnoticed.  So,  as  to  men 
and  movements.  Though  Southey  and  Wordsworth 
may  have  been  known  to  us  for  years,  De  Quincey 
interprets  them  quite  anew. 

Apart  from  this  special  descriptive  excellence,  the 
prose  is  marked  throughout  by  poetic  taste  and  finish. 
There  is  just  enough  distinct  use  of  figurative  lan- 
guage to  lend  variety  and  general  vividness  to  the 
style  and,  yet,  not  enough  to  controvert  his  own  the- 


43G  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ory  as  to  the  superiority  of  thought  to  form.  In  the 
matter  of  melody  and  rhythm,  as  apart  of  good  prose 
structure,  the  author  reaches  definite  and  high  re- 
sults. Whether  we  refer  to  euphony  as  pertaining  to 
the  mere  pleasure  of  sounds  in  themselves  or  as  related 
to  the  sense  beneath  them,  there  is  abundant  evidence 
of  skill.  His  prose  possesses  what  Beethoven  calls 
"pronounciability  "  and  what  Masson  calls  "musical 
beauty."  Vowels,  consonants  and  liquids  are  happily 
adjusted  while  he  never  so  magnifies  this  poetic  ele- 
ment as  to  pass  the  limits  of  substantial  prose  or 
make  it  difficult  as  to  where  to  classify  his  writings. 
In  this  respect,  also,  he  is  Macaulay's  superior  as  he  is 
that  of  such  an  author  as  Jeremy  Taylor.  Though  De 
Quincey  was  convinced  that  prose  was  his  forte  and 
wisely  worked  in  it,  he  had  not  a  little  of  that  poetic 
genius  which  is  found  in  all  great  prose  writers  and 
is  intensified  as  in  his  case  so  fully,  by  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  best  specimens  of  poetry.  He 
had  what  lies  below  all  high  expression  in  prose  or 
poetry — the  instinct  of  literary  form ;  what  Matthew 
Arnold  would  call — the  sense  of  beauty.  Intellectual 
as  his  style  was,  it  was  conspicuously  artistic,  and  in 
this  he  has  done  the  unspeakable  service  of  showing 
that  the  best  work  in  prose  literature  is  neither  the 
purely  didactic  nor  the  purely  imaginative,  but  is 
seen  in  the  judicious  combination  of  these  elements 
in  what  may  be  termed — the  expression  of  thought 
in  aesthetic  form.  The  phrase — literary  art — if  truly 
interpreted,  means  an  art  based  on  mental  laws  and 
proceeding  by  intellectual  methods  and,  yet,  expres- 
sive of  all  that  belongs  to  good  taste  and  finish  of 
form. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DE   QUINCE Y.     437 

In  De  Qiincey,  this  pictorial  and  artistic  quality 
rises,  at  times,  to  magnificence.  There  is  the  ele- 
ment of  literary  splendor,  a  kind  of  majestic  move- 
ment corresponding  to  the  element  of  sublimity  in 
poetry.  The  style  is  stately  without  being  pompous 
or  inflated.  There  is  something  of  that  lofty  bearing 
so  manifest  in  Hooker  and  Milton,  but  conducted 
with  more  finish  and  ease.  There  is  a  sustained 
elegance  of  form  and  carriage  that  indicates  high 
literary  breeding  and  invites  respect. 

What  an  absence  there  is  in  De  Qnincey  of  the 
coarse  and  base  !  How  completely  does  he  avoid 
the  extremes  of  buffoonery  and  moral  impropriety. 
There  is  nothing  of  Jonathan  Swift's  lower  tastes 
here,  bat  all  is  clean  and  clear.  This  was  with  De 
Qnincey  more  a  matter  of  taste  than  conscience. 
His  morality  was  mainly  literary.  His  ethics  were 
shaped  by  his  aesthetics.  His  sense  of  artistic  pro- 
priety as  an  author  would  have  made  it  impossible 
for  him  to  have  descended  to  the  low  levels  of  Dryden 
and  the  Restoration  school.  He  had  a  religious  re- 
gard for  what  was  in  good  taste,  and  his  prose  is, 
thereby,  the  purer  and  better. 

HIS  ALLEGED  DEFECTS  OF  STYLE. 

(1.)  Tho  Want  of  Full  Discussion  of  Ideas. 

Carlyle  speaks  of  his  "wire-drawn"  papers.  He 
has  in  mind  his  apparent  want  of  elaboration,  of 
greater  thoroughness  of  treatment.  Hence,  it  is 
noticeable  that  De  Qnincey  rarely  ventured  beyond 
the  magazine  article  into  the  larger  and  wider  sphere 


438  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

of  prose  expression.     It  seemed  to  be  as  difficult  for 
him  to  address  himself  to  the  sustained  production 
of  literary  work  in  book  form  as  for  Burns  or  Words- 
worth to  compose  an  epic.     Miscellaneous  writing,  is 
after  all,  a  subordinate  form.     Its  discursive  character 
must  rank  it  below  those  forms  which  imply  and  re- 
quire   protracted    mental  effort  definitely  applied  to 
one  topic.     The  historical  essay  is  not  history  proper 
nor  is  the  descriptive  essay  a  work  in  prose  fiction. 
A  biographical  or  a  critical  paper  is  not  biography  or 
criticism  proper.     De  Quincey,  it  is  true,  experimented 
in  extended  book  production,  as  in  his — Logic  of  Po- 
litical Economy.     In  this  he  sought  to  combine  logic 
and  social  science  into  one  unique  system.     He  ridi- 
culed all  existing  attempts  save  one  in  this  direction, 
and  on  the  basis  of  the  learned  Rioardo,  he  aimed  to 
present  an  acceptable  treatise.     He  called  it — "Pro- 
legomena to  all  Future  Systems  of  Political  Economy." 
With  this  among  other  projects  in  mind,  an  able  critic 
in  the  Quarterly  Review  remarks  with  irony — "  He 
never  finished  anything  except  his  sentences."     Here 
and  there  throughout  his  writings  are  intimations  of 
unfinished  plans.     There  is  one  of  these  that  seems 
to  be  of  special  note — a  work  he  tells  us,  "  to  which 
he  devoted  the  labor  of  his  life — a  memorial  to  his 
children,  of  hopes  defeated  and  of  the  grief  and  ruin 
of  the  architect."     There  is  the  promise  of  a  work 
nothing  less  than   Baconian  in  the  title  he   assigns 
toit:"De  Ernendatione  Hurnani  Intellectus."     This 
great  undertaking  was  never  fulfilled  while  his  vol- 
ume of  prose  fiction  entitled — Klosterheim — is  not  at 
present  accessible  in    England.     His   work   as    thus 
miscellaneous  and  irregular  rather  than  continuous, 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DE   QUINCE V.      439 

opened  the  great  literary  temptation  to  narrowness 
of  view  and  undue  brevity  of  description. 

Though  he  understood  the  utility  of  full  discussion 
and  gave  enough  examples  of  it  to  show  that  he 
could  apply  it,  such  a  method  was  exceptional  and 
was  not  fully  demanded  by  the  periodic  style.  That 
De  Quincey  did  not  carry  this  principle  further,  as 
many  of  his  less  able  predecessors  did,  is  not  alto- 
gether a  mystery.  We  must  believe  that  it  was  mainly 
due  to  the  debilitating  effect  of  opium,  by  which  he 
tells  us,  he  had  virtually  lost  the  power  over  his  own 
will  and  faculties.  It  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  men- 
tal philosophy  that  under  this  frequent  paralysis  of 
the  will,  he  did  anything  of  worth  in  English  Prose 
and,  moreover,  unquestionable  that  apart  from  this 
deadly  drug,  he  would  have  been  second  to  none  in 
what  he  has  finely  termed  "the  literature  of  power." 
This  fault  apart,  however,  most  of  the  main  features 
of  standard  prose  will  appear  as  we  analyze  more 
closely  the  style  of  the  author. 

As  a  body  of  miscellaneous  prose,  it  has  no  supe- 
rior in  English  Letters.  For  wide  richness  of  subject; 
for  fullness  of  knowledge  exhibited  and  for  general 
attractiveness,  no  such  example  of  English  writing 
exists.  In  making  up  the  estimate  of  his  rank  and 
power,  critics  have  erred  in  comparing  him  with 
those  who  have  worked  in  other  departments  of  lit- 
erature for  which  he  had  but  little  ability  or  taste. 
He  is  not  to  be  condemned  in  that  he  did  not  write 
such  a  work  as  Bacon's  Advancement  of  Learning 
or  Hooker's  Polity.  He  is  not  to  be  severely  com- 
pared with  those  writers,  who,  in  addition  to  miscel- 
laneous work    have    accomplished   large    results    in 


440  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

other  fields, — with  such  authors  as  Carlyle  or  the 
great  historians,  novelists  and  philosophers  of  Eng- 
land, but  with  others  of  the  periodical  order.  Among 
such,  as  we  shall  see,  he  stands  pre-eminent.  The 
most  unsparing  criticism  must  concede  that  in  the 
purely  miscellaneous  sphere  no  exception  can  be 
taken  to  this.  Compared  with  Swift,  Addison,  John- 
son and  Lamb  and  all  the  so-called  essayists  of  our 
literature,  he  has  no  rival  or  equal.  If  the  modern 
English  student  were  to  be  restricted  to  the  perusal 
of  one  English  essayist  with  reference  either  to  the 
the  formation  of  style  or  the  experience  of  literary 
pleasure,  it  should  be  De  Quincey.  The  advice  given 
by  Dr.  Johnson  in  reference  to  Addison  "  that  we 
must  spend  our  days  and  nights  with  him,"  is  still 
more  in  place  as  applied  to  De  Quincey. 

"There  are  few  courses  of  reading,"  says  Masson, 
"  from  which  a  young  man  of  good  natural  intel- 
ligence would  come  away  more  instructed,  charmed 
and  stimulated  or  with  his  mind  more  stretched.'"  In 
many  respects  he  is  the  essayist  of  English  Prose. 

(2.)  Errors  of  Diction,  Sentence  and  IVloral  Force. 

As  to  diction,  the  errors  here  are  not  enough  to 
justify  the  assertion  made  by  some  critics,  that  it  is 
loose,  irregular  and  devoid  of  correctness.  The  au- 
thor innocently  prided  himself  on  his  use  of  language. 
He  made  it  a  special  aim  to  be  precise.  In  one  of 
his  papers,  after  detecting  the  violation  of  this  prin- 
ciple he  condemns  it  and  adds,  "  We  rarely  make 
such  errors  in  the  use  of  words."  We  have  already 
spoken  of  his  pure  English  style — his  preference  for 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DE   QUINCE Y.    441 

the  native  language  over  the  Latin  or  any  other 
foreign  tongue.  Even  where  foreign  idiom  and  tech- 
nical phraseology  enter,  the  English  spirit  is  so  con- 
trolling as  to  preserve  the  composition  from  pedantry 
or  detract  from  its  naturalness.  There  are  authors, 
such  as— Walton,  Fuller,  Bunyan  and  De  Foe,  who 
use  in  their  prose  a  larger  percentage  of  native 
words.  Even  Swift  is  his  superior  here.  Still,  the 
percentage  is  so  large  and  the  general  character  so 
home-like  that  his  language  cannot  be  said  to  mark 
a  wide  departure  from  purity.  "The  strong  point  in 
his  diction,"  says  Minto,  "is  his  acquaintance  with 
the  language  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings,  with  the 
subjective  side  of  the  English  vocabulary.  If  "right 
words  in  right  places  "is  a  true  definition  of  style, 
De  Quincey  might  be  regarded  as  a  master.  As  to  his 
wealth  of  diction  nothing  need  be  said.. 

As  to  sentences  and  general  structure  the  author  is 
more  at  fault,  but  not  enough  so  to  warrant  the  state- 
ment in  connection  with  his  paper  on  Goethe  that 
the  prose  was  marked  by  "awkwardness  and  stiff- 
ness." There  are,  undoubtedly,  in  De  Quincey  evi- 
dent effects  of  German  Grammar.  He  had  made  him- 
self so  conversant  with  German  authors  as  to  be 
somewhat  affected  by  their  style  while,  apart  from 
this,  he  had  not  that  natural  facility  of  shaping  prose 
structure  which  belonged  to  Macaulay  and  Lamb. 
Specially  inclined  to  the  elaborate  periodic  order  of 
sentence,  he  found  himself,  at  times,  so  involved 
midway  in  the  structure  as  to  make  clearness  impos- 
sible, lie  indulges  too  freely  in  the  use  of  inversion 
ami  parenthesis  largely  induced  by  his  habit  of  di- 
gression.    As  a  law,  however,  his  meaning  is  clear 


442  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

and  expressed  with  vigor.  As  we  know,  there  was 
no  subject  to  which  as  a  question  of  style  he  devoted 
more  attention  than  to  the  formation  of  the  sentence. 
He  is  ever  enforcing  the  necessity  of  a  plain  and  em- 
phatic structure,  so  that  even  when  he  errs  it  is  in 
the  face  of  his  better  judgment.  What  he  called — 
The  Mechanology  of  Style — had  primary  reference  to 
this  building  of  the  phrase  and  paragraph  so  as  to 
produce  the  best  effect. 

As  to  the  positive  moral  vigor  of  De  Quincey's 
prose,  little  can  be  said.  "No  one  could  have  said 
of  De  Quincey,  at  any  time  of  his  life,"  writes  Masson, 
"  that  his  strength  lay  in  any  predominance  of  the 
moral  element  in  his  nature." 

We  have  spoken  of  his  style  as  strikingly  intellec- 
tual. It  was  so  because  the  author  was  so  and 
somewhat  at  the  expense  of  the  ethical.  He  had 
here  the  same  defect  noted  in  the  nature  of  Macau- 
lay, — the  want  of  that  distinctively  moral  purpose 
which  belongs  to  high  literary  art.  He  was  a  critic 
of  style  pure  and  simple  rather  than  of  men  or  char- 
acter. He  never  raised  the  question  as  to  the  place 
of  conscience  in  authorship.  He  would,  not  have 
been  able  to  understand  what  Trollope  writes  in  his 
Life  of  Thackeray — "that  every  work  of  fiction  must 
be  morally  correct."  The  more  modern  theory  of  the 
separate  existence  of  ethics  and  letters  would  have 
been  more  agreeable.  The  curse  of  opium  is  again 
apparent  here  in  paralyzing  the  will  and  motive 
forces  in  the  man.  The  ethical  is  eliminated  or 
deadened. 

Had  De  Quincey  possessed  this  quality,  no  line 
could  have  measured  his  literary  influence.     As  it  is, 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS— DE     QUINCE  Y.      443 

he  must  be  viewed  apart  from  it  simply  as  one  of  the 
English  Men  of  Letters. 

Judged  from  this  standpoint  he  has,  as  stated,  no 
superior  in  English  prose.  A  recent  English  critic 
has  not  overstated  it  as  he  says — "  The  exquisite  fin- 
nish  of  his  style,  with  the  scholastic  vigor  of  his 
logic  form  a  combination  which  centuries  may  never 
reproduce,  but  which  every  generation  should  study 
as  one  of  the  marks  of  English  literature."  In  vol- 
ume and  richness  of  diction,  in  substantial  clearness 
and  strength  of  structure;  in  all  those  qualities  of 
style  that  may  be  termed  intellectual  and  in  high 
artistic  finish  of  external  form,  there  is  nothing  bet- 
ter in  our  language.  Others  had  excelled  him  in  spe- 
cific features  of  style  but  no  one  up  to  his  time  had 
so  happily  unified  all  the  leading  qualities.  He  is 
not  without  defects  and  positive  faults;  but  they  are 
largely  neutralized  by  the  presence  of  many  masterly 
qualities.  Representing  all  that  was  best  in  Baconian 
and  Addisonian  style,  he,  also,  represents  those  later 
excellences  which  belong  to  English  Prose  as  dis- 
tinctively modern  and  which  serve  to  place  it  as 
second  to  none  in  the  list  of  the  prose  literatures 
of  the  world. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Masson's  (Eng.  Men  of  Let.).  Minto's  Prose  Man- 
ual. Hours  in  a  Library  (Leslie  Stephen).  Illustra- 
tions of  Genius  (Giles). 


CHAPTER  XI. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  at  Landport  (Hampshire)  Feb.,  1812.  Studied 
near  Rochester.  An  Attorney  and  Student.  A  Re- 
porter. From  1836,  engaged  in  authorship.  Vis- 
ited United  States  in  1841.  Visited  United  States 
again  in  1867.     Died  in  1870. 

Prose  Fiction  as  a  Form. 

In  discussing  the  Representative  Forms  of  English 
Prose  in  the  former  part  of  this  treatise,  special 
attention  has  been  called  to  the  Descriptive  or  Pic- 
torial Form.  As  there  remarked,  Prose  Fiction,  as 
a  distinct  species  of  prose,  falls  under  this  form.  It 
is  not  precisely  co-extensive  with  Descriptive  Writing, 
but  has  its  main  features.  All  fiction  as  such,  is 
more  or  less  descriptive.  It  is  not  true,  however, 
that  all  descriptive  prose  is  necessarily  fictitious  in 
character.  As  already  suggested,  it  has  a  large  place 
in  ordinary  narrative  writing  and  a  place  larger  or 
smaller  in  every  prominent  form  of  English  Prose 
Literature.  The  style  of  Dickens  is  essentially  that 
of  Prose  Fiction.  There  is  no  writer  of  our  literature 
who  in   this  particular  has  been  more  unique   and 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        445 

individual.  Whatever  product  of  his  pen  we  may  be 
pleased  to  peruse  we  know,  at  the  outset,  just  wThat 
order  of  style  we  shall  find, — the  distinctive  style  of 
the  novelist.  From  early  boyhood  to  the  composition 
of  his  last  work,  Dickens  was  a  novelist  more  than 
anything  else,  and  he  could  not  if  he  had  so  desired, 
permanently  have  succeeded  in  any  other  sphere. 
Some  of  his  attempts  in  biographical  editing  and 
politico-literary  journalism  confirm  this  view.  Even 
in  the  closely  related  form  of  historical  prose,  he  was 
not  as  much  of  an  adept  as  many  of  his  contem- 
poraries such  as — Bulwer,  Thackeray,  Scott  and 
Kingsley.  It  is  quite  noticeable  that  but  two  of 
his  numerous  novels — Barnaby  Rudge  and  A  Tale  of 
Two  Cities — may  be  strictly  called  historical,  while 
his — Child's  History  of  England — was  but  partially 
successful. 

As  to  the  oratorical  or  philosophic  forms  of  prose, 
he  scarcely  approached  them  at  any  point.  His  mis- 
sion was  elsewhere.  It  was  in  the  region  of  the  ideal 
and  the  imaginative  in  their  relation  to  the  actual 
life  about  him.  Hence  it  is  clear  that  an  analysis  of 
Dickens'  prose  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  study 
of  style  as  seen  in  works  of  fiction. 

It  will  be  seen  to  have  three  pictorial  elements 
that  mark  it  as  a  kind  of  pictorial  prose.  It  will  re- 
veal tin-  presence  of  imagination  more  than  any  other 
mental  faculty  and  reveal  it  on  its  poetical  side  more 
than  on  its  historical  or  philosophic.  Even  within 
the  province  of  fiction  proper,  the  descriptive  novel 
will  be  seen  to  take  precedence  of  all  others  in  his 
works.  That  combined  minuteness  and  comprehen- 
siveness of  style  peculiar  to  the  novel  as  a  work  of 


416  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

literary  art  will  appear.  In  fine,  in  the  study  of 
Dickens'  prose,  we  are,  for  the  time  being,  on  a  kind 
of  border  line  between  prose  and  poetry — the  real 
and  the  unreal. 

The  writing  is  that  of  prose  fiction  as  Burke's  is 
that  of  oratory,  or  Addison's  that  of  the  Miscellaneous 
Essay.  Whatever  disadvantage  this  may  have  in  the 
way  of  restriction,  it  has  the  great  advantage  of  pre- 
cision.    We  know  just  where  we  are. 


His  Prose  Works. 

These  are  of  one  order  and  are  numerous.  All 
literary  critics  have  noted  the  wonderful  literary 
activity  which  Dickens  displayed.  He  was  a  con- 
scientious and  an  earnest  worker  in  the  field  of 
English  Prose  and  in  this  respect  alone  has  left  an  in- 
valuable lesson  for  those  who  follow  him  and  who  may 
he  inclined  to  what  is  called — elegant  literary  leisure. 
Ward  and  Forster,  his  most  recent  biographers  are 
never  weary  of  alluding  to  this  characteristic  and  al- 
ways connect  it  with  his  great  success  as  a  writer  and 
with  that  fertility  of  production  which  he  exhibited. 
Late  in  life  he  wrote — "  I  am  become  incapable  of 
rest.  I  am  quite  confident  I  should  break  and  die,  if 
1  spared  myself.  Much  better  to  die  doing."  He  early 
fumed  the  purpose  of  doing  what  he  did  with  all  his 
heart.  Love  of  thoroughnessand  system  in  his  work  is 
everywhere  visible.  What  he  lacked  naturally,  he 
supplied  by  the  greatest  assiduity  and  even  in  the 
days  of  vacation  was  storing  his  mind  for  his  needs 
as  a   novelist.     He   saw  and  noted  everything,  and 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        447 

when  he  sat  down  to  the  definite  work  of  composition 
was  full  of  his  subject  and  wrote  with  ease. 

Such  an  author  must  have  been  voluminous.  From 
the  time  that  he  penned  his — Sketches  of  Boz,  and — 
The  Posthumous  Papers  of  The  Pickwick  Club,  on  to 
Our  Mutual  Friend,  and  the  unfinished— Mystery  of 
Edwin  Drood,  he  was  at  it  early  and  late — passion- 
ately devoted  to  novel  writing,  carrying  out  his  own 
principle — ''  Whatever  I  have  devoted  myself  to,  I 
have  devoted  myself  to  completely." 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  our  purpose  to  mention 
here  all  the  prose  writings  of  Dickens.  At  the  close 
of  Mr.  Forster's  minute  biography,  such  a  list  may  be 
found. 

As  the  basis  of  our  criticism  may  be  mentioned  the 
following: — 

Sketches  of  Boz. 

The  Posthumous  Papers  of  The  Pichvich  Club. 

Oliver  Ttvist. 

Life  a tt'l  Adventures  of  Nicholas  NicMeby. 

The  Old  Curiosity  Shop. 

Barndby  Pudge. 

American  Notes  for   General  Circulation. 

The  Life,  and  Adventures  of  Martin  Chwdewit. 

Dealings  with  the  Firm  of  Dornbey  and  Son. 

The  Personal  History  of  David  Copperfield. 

Bleak  House 

J  lord  Time*. 

Little  Dorrtt. 

A  Tale  of  Two  Cities. 

The  Uncommercial  Traveler. 

Great  Expectations. 


448  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

Our  Mutual  Friend. 

The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood. 

Christmas  Stories: — A  Christmas  Carol  in  Prose. 
The  Ch  imes.  The  Cricket  on  the  Hearth.  The  Battle 
of  Life.      The  Haunted  Man. 

In  addition  to  these  typical  works  might  be  men- 
tioned some  of  lesser  note,  such  as  his — 

Memoirs  of  Joseph  Grimaldi. 
The  Picnic  Papers. 
Pictures  from  Italy. 
A  Child s  History  of  England. 

The  Serials: — Household  Words.  All  the  Year  Bound. 
Master  Humphrey  s  Clock. 

Other  works  of  still  less  importance  may  be  seen 
in  the  list  referred  to. 

There  is  here  manifested  unwonted  literary  indus- 
try and  productiveness,  covering  a  period  of  thirty- 
five  years,  from  1835-70.  Even  when  a  boy  at  school 
and  an  attorney's  clerk,  he  was  writing  sketches.  It 
is  well  known  that  from  an  early  period  he  was 
connected  more  or  less  directly  with  journalism, 
partly  in  the  interests  of  his  special  work  as  a 
novelist  and  partly  for  independent  ends  in  the  in- 
tervals of  regular  duty. 

As  far,  therefore,  as  mere  amount  of  authorship  is 
concerned  Dickens  ranks  among  the  first.  Though 
less  voluminous  than  De  Foe  or  Bulwer  he  is  far  more 
60  than  Thackeray  or  Eliot  and  has  written  quite 
enough  to  entitle  him  to  the  place  to  which  modern 
criticism   has   assigned   him.      It   is   quite   possible, 


RRPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        449 

indeed,  as  in  the  case  of  De  Foe  that  he  has  written 
too  much  for  his  reputation,  while  it  is  not  to  be  for- 
gotten, as  suggested,  that  what  he  wrote  was  mainly 
iu  one  direction  of  literary  work.  Though  he  wrote 
far  more  than  Addison  or  Johnson  or  Macaulay,  he 
was  not  voluminous  as  they  were  in  the  way  of  a 
large  variety  of  prose  form.  Those  qualities  of  style 
which  arise  from  frequent  change  of  topic  as  from 
history  to  essay  or  from  criticism  to  descriptive  sketch- 
ing are  not  as  prominent  in  Dickens  as  in  many  of 
our  English  writers.  On  the  other  hand,  the  re- 
striction of  his  work,  spacious  as  it  is,  to  the  one 
department  of  prose  fiction,  brings  with  it  certain 
advantages  in  the  line  of  concentrated  effort  and 
ever  improving  methods.  Dickens  has  often  been  held 
to  account  by  the  critics  for  what  he  never  pretended 
to  do  as  a  prose  writer.  His  prose  is  to  be  examined 
and  judged  within  the  limits  of  that  form  which  he 
preferred  and  produced,  and  that  only.  Comparing 
him  favorably  or  unfavorably  with  Scott  or  Thackeray 
is  in  order,  but  not  so  to  insist  that  he  shall  be  in 
narrative  prose  what  Macaulay  was,  or  in  philosophic 
prose  what  Hooker  or  Bacon  were. 

PROMINENT  FEATURES  OF  HIS  PROSE  STYLE.— MERITS. 

(1.)  Delineative  and  Dramatic  Power. 

In  this  characteristic  we  touch  upon  that  which 
many  have  regarded  as  the  one  leading  feature  of 
the  prose  before  us.  It  is  certainly  as  conspicuous  as 
any  and  would  express  as  fully  as  any  those  peculiar 
features  which  mark  Dickens  as  a  novelist.  Among 
the  different,  classes  of  novels  which  critics  have  seen 


450  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

fit  to  enumerate,  the  novel  of  Life  and  Manners  is  a 
prominent  one.  It  might  be  called  with  fairness,  the 
Descriptive  Novel,  and  it  was  the  special  form  in 
which  Dickens  did  his  best  work  and  which  best 
illustrates  his  prose  style.  Attention  has  already- 
been  called  to  the  early  development  of  descriptive 
skill  in  the  life  of  Dickens,  based  as  it  was  on  that 
keen  faculty  which  he  possessed  of  seeing  all  that 
transpired  about  him  and  of  seeing  it  with  reference 
to  portraying  it  in  written  form.  The  first  substan- 
tial product  of  his  pen — Sketches  of  Boz — happily 
suggests  this  primary  quality  of  his  style.  In  the 
best  sense  of  the  word,  it  was  sketchy  or  graphic — a 
clear  delineation  of  men  and  things.  It  is  in  this 
feature  of  Dickens'  style  that  his  imagination  as  a 
pictorial  and  constructive  faculty  is  seen  to  enter. 
He  had  by  natural  endowment  a  lively  sense  of  the 
ideal  and  fanciful  and  yet  made  it  a  matter  of  special 
care  to  cultivate  this  part  of  his  being.  We  note 
throughout  the  record  of  his  life  that  he  regarded  it 
as  important  as  any  faculty  of  the  human  mind  and 
congratulated  himself  that  in  his  own  case  it  had 
received  constant  culture.  It  is  just  here  that  much 
of  the  descriptive  character  of  his  prose  finds  its 
origin  and  maintenance.  He  enriched  and  enlarged 
the  descriptive  faculties  of  the  mind  just  as  the  lo- 
gician would  expand  the  logical  faculties  or  the  artist 
the  special  faculty  of  assthetie  taste. 

It  was  by  this  power  of  actualizing  the  ideal  that 
his  characters  were,  in  the  main,  as  real  to  him  as  if 
they  were  before  him  in  living  personality. 

We  are  told  that  there  is  much  of  the  dramatio 
cast   in   Dickens'  prose.     The  criticism  is  eminently 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        451 

just  and  lies  directly  in  the  line  of  his  power  of 
imagery. 

He  tells  us  that  he  had  "always  been  an  actor." 
When  a  boy  at  the  Wellington  House  Academy,  he 
not  only  wrote  the  tales  which  were  to  be  recited, 
but  was  the  actual  head  of  the  private  theatrical  per- 
formances there  established.  His  enthusiastic  fond- 
ness for  the  public  recitation  of  his  own  writings  in 
this  country,  on  the  continent  and  at  home,  is  but 
another  evidence  of  the  presence  of  this  histrionic 
instinct  and  skill. 

He  loved,  as  a  writer,  the  work  of  representation 
and  in  order  to  express  this  tendency  of  his  nature 
still  more  fully  he  often  resorted  to  the  platform  as  a 
reader  or  to  the  boards  of  the  stage  as  an  actor. 
Readers  of  his  life  will  call  to  mind  the  part  which 
he  took  as  manager  and  actor  in  the  comedy  of — 
Every  Man  in  his  Humor — The  Light  House — The 
Elder  Brother,  and  other  plays. 

With  Jerrold,  Lemon,  Collins  and  Forster,  as  in- 
timate companions,  he  went  about  as  the  old  strolling 
players  were  wont  to  do,  partly  for  sheer  jollity  and 
mainly  to  give  due  expression  to  that  particular 
element  of  his  descriptive  faculty  which  may  be 
called  dramatic.  Ward,  in  speaking  of  Bleak  House, 
remarks — "The  idea  of  making  an  impressional  ob- 
ject like  a  great  Chancery  suit  the  centre  round 
which  a  large  and  manifold  group  of  characters  re- 
volves, seems  to  savor  of  a  drama  rather  than  of  a 
story."  This  statement  has  a  much  wider  application 
than  to  Bleak  House,  as  in  Dombev  and  Son  and 
elsewhere. 

In  fact,   Dickens'  prose  in  his  fiction  throughout, 


452  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

not  only  evinces  that  measure  of  plot  and  character 
and  catastrophe  which  marks  the  novel  as  a  distinct 
form  of  prose  but  that  measure  of  these  which  marks 
the  comedy  as  a  dramatic  product.  To  say  the  least, 
it  marks  the  border  line  between  prose  fiction  and 
the  prose  drama. 

Much  has  been  said  of  late,  pro  and  con,  as  to 
the  power  of  characterization  visible  in  the  prose  of 
Dickens. 

Critics  who  rank  him  high  at  this  point  speak  of — 
"  the  photographic  power  of  his  pen."  Others  speak 
slightingly  of  his  power  here  and  deny  to  him  any 
genius  in  this  direction. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  the  basis  of  such  extreme  de- 
structive criticism  at  this  point.  The  author  is  not 
to  be  compared  as  to  this  quality  with  those  who  are 
dramatic  writers  only,  with  such  as  Shakespeare  or 
the  great  Elizabethan  dramatists.  Characterization 
on  its  dramatic  side  cannot  possibly  reach  in  fiction 
that  high  level  which  by  right  it  attains  in  the  drama 
propei-.  Somewhat  different  in  its  very  nature,  it  is 
mostly  different  in  the  form  and  degrees  of  its  ex- 
pression. The  prose  of  Dickens  is  here  to  be  compared 
with  that  of  his  fellow  novelists — preceding  and  con- 
temporaneous, with  that  of  Scott  and  Thackeray, 
Fielding  and  Richardson.  Thus  compared,  he  yields 
to  no  one  of  them.  We  deem  it  safe  to  affirm  that 
in  the  dramatic  or  representative  description  of  char- 
acter, he  is  far  superior  to  any  of  his  predecessors  and 
had  no  equal  in  his  day.  If  he  had  not  this  art,  he 
had  nothing.  It  was  his  strong  point  as  a  prose 
novelist. 

Apart  from  this  descriptive  feature  on  its  dramatic 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        453 

side,  however,  the  prose  of  Dickens  is  a  striking 
example  of  general  descriptive  prose.  He  had  that 
keen  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  outlines  of  ob- 
jects which  is  so  essential  to  delineative  success  in 
the  writer.  He  knew  jus-t  where  to  stand  so  as  to  get 
the  best  point  of  view  of  the  person  or  scene  to  be 
sketched  and  how  to  fill  up  in  the  most  picturesque 
and  attractive  manner  the  outline  presented.  In  his 
— Pictures  from  Italy;  in  Barnaby  Rudge;  in  The 
Tale  of  Two  Cities  and  in  his  Child's  History,  there 
are  good  examples  of  this  ordinary  descriptive  writ- 
ing on  its  historical  side,  while  all  through  his  prose 
those  pen  pictures  appear  which  mark  the  style  as 
imaginative.  He  delights  to  give  the  "romantic  side 
of  familiar  things."  The  style  is  illustrated,  as  he 
says,  "by  every-day  life  and  every-day  people."  It 
is  a  happy  combination  of  romance  with  reality  by 
which  the  one  is  saved  from  groundless  fancy  and 
the  other,  from  literary  dullness.  His  description  of 
the  Yorkshire  Schools,  in  Nicholas  Nickleby ;  of  Mark 
Tapley,  Mrs.  Gamp,  and,  especially,  of  Pecksniff,  in 
Martin  Chuzzlewit;  of  Dover,  in  A  Tale  of  Two 
Cities;  of  South  European  life,  in  his  Pictures  from 
Italy;  of  the  experiences  of  Pip,  in  Great  Expec- 
tations and  the  inimitable  scenes  in  Oliver  Twist, 
Old  Curiosity  Shop,  The  Pickwick  Papers  and  David 
Coppevfield  will  sufficiently  indicate  that,  wealth  of 
faculty  which  Boz  possessed  in  this  department  of 
prose  art.  In  fact,  it  was  enough  for  him  to  see  a 
thing  once  to  be  able  to  delineate  it  accurately  and 
interestingly  to  others. 

His — American    Notes — and    portions    of    Martin 
Chuzzlewit  are  the    only  serious  exceptions  to  this 


454:  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

statement  and  here  the  sufficient  explanation  is  given 
in  the  words  of  Ward,  his  latest  biographer — "  that 
he  had,  if  not  at  first,  at  least,  very  speedily,  taken  a 
dislike  to  American  ways  which  proved  too  strong  for 
him  to  the  last."  Even  here,  however,  many  of  the 
descriptions,  which  are  false  as  matters  of  history 
are  attractive  as  specimens  of  pictorial  art  in  prose. 
Dickens'  prose  is  descriptive  as  Bacon's  is  philosophic 
or  Burke's  impassioned,  and  no  author  in  English  has 
written  so  much  descriptive  prose  who  has  written 
it  better  or  with  fewer  substantial  literary  faults. 


(2.)  Pathos  or  Sensibility. 

This  quality  of  style  is  by  no  means  as  frequent 
in  Dickens  as  the  one  discussed.  As  far  as  it  goes 
however,  it  is  equally  characteristic.  It  is  that  ele- 
ment of  sympathy  or  sensitiveness  which  makes  im- 
pressive any  prose  in  which  it  is  found.  One  has 
but  to  read  a  short  way  into  the  life  of  Dickens  as  a 
man  or  an  author  before  he  discovers  the  prominent 
existence  of  this  quality  and  the  grounds  of  it.  In 
his  very  first  work  of  any  import,  he  illustrates  it. 
In  the  Pickwick  Papers,  it  appears  in  the  character 
of  Sain  Weller  in  close  conjunction  with  the  element 
of  humor.  In  the  Old  Curiosity  Shop,  as  Ward  sug- 
gests: "The  key-note  is  that  of  an  idyllic  pathos." 
In — Hard  Times — even  the  despicable  part  of  Grad- 
grind  is  relieved  by  genuine  strokes  of  tenderness 
while  the  one  purpose  of  the  book  is  in  the  line  of 
charity  for  the  suffering.  This  quality  is  strikingly 
manifested  in  those  works  and  characters  where  the 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        455 

author  seems  to  aim  to  counteract  or  conceal  irre- 
deemable features  of  bad  men  by  emphasizing  those 
that  are  indicative  of  some  good  still  remaining.  He 
believed  in  the  better  nature  of  man  and  would  bring 
it  into  prominence,  as  in  Oliver  Twist,  in  the  persons 
of  Bates  and  the  Artful  Dodger.  As  Lord  Russell 
wrote  of  him,  he  had  a  faculty  of  "  finding  diamonds 
hidden  far  away."  So  in  his  personal  and  generous 
interest  in  the  poor  and  unfortunate.  His  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  Ragged  Schools  and  Hospitals  for  sick 
children  evinces  this.  His  attempt,  as  in  Nicholas 
Nickleby,  Bleak  House  and  numerous  other  works,  to 
right  the  wrongs  of  the  oppressed  is  in  point.  "  Be 
not  hard  upon  the  poor,"  is  his  maxim  and  appeal. 
His  interest  in  children  and,  especially,  in  the  outcast 
is  proof  in  point,  while  in — The  Chimes,  as  in  all  his 
Christmas  Series,  his  prominent  object  is  to  express 
his  tender  sympathy  with  all  that  can  alleviate  sor- 
row and  lighten  life.  He  was  full  of  that  humanity 
of  which  Thackeray  so  often  speaks  and  in  this 
respect  resembled  his  great  contemporary.  When 
as  in  the  case  of  the  death  of  Little  Nell  and  similar 
scenes,  this  pathetic  quality  of  spirit  comes  to  its  full- 
est expression,  there  can  be  no  longer  a  doubt  that  it 
was  a  radical  part  of  his  nature  and  literary  activity. 
Such  a  personal  characteristic  would  naturally  become 
a  literary  characteristic  and  be  suffused  through  all 
that  he  wrote.  It  lends  to  his  style  what,  might  be 
called,  a  mellowness  and  sweetness  of  tone,  and  goes 
far  to  nullify  any  of  those  coarser  elements  which  are 
to  some  extent  necessary  in  fiction.  This  gentleness 
of  touch  is  something  that  is  needed  in  all  prose  and 
marks  the  presence  of  a  chaste  and  sensitive  spirit 


456  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

behind  it.  Those  who  have  had  the  privilege  of 
hearing  Mr.  Dickens  recite  his  own  productions  will 
have  seen  how  deep  a  hold  of  his  large  nature  this 
pathetic  element  took.  Mr.  Forster  in  the  third  vol- 
ume of  his  biography  calls  frequent  attention  to  this 
quality  as  seen  in  David  Copperfield  and  other  novels. 
It  casts  a  charm  over  the  style  and  has  completely 
disarmed  much  criticism  that  otherwise  would  have 
been  destructive.  Some,  as  Mr.  Taine  and  George 
Henry  Lewes,  contend  that  this  pathos  overreaches 
itself,  that  "the  tone  is  too  passionate."  They  hold 
that  the  author  is  controlled  by  his  feelings  and  sac- 
rifices correctness  of  literary  art  to  an  undue  effusion 
of  sentiment. 

Mr.  Dickens'  recent  biographers  have  sufficiently 
met  this  accusation.  Coming  from  such  critics  as 
it  does  it  is  a  compliment  more  than  a  rebuke  and 
evinces  the  fact  that  his  style  is  so  permeated  by  this 
element  that  the  most  indifferent  must  admit  its 
presence.  There  are  exceptional  instances,  indeed, 
when  the  pathos  is  too  strong  for  the  idea  behind  it. 
In  the  main,  however,  it  must  be  conceded  that  he 
is  master  of  it  and  guides  it  to  the  best  results.  To 
eliminate  it  from  his  style  would  be  to  rob  it  of  one 
of  its  cardinal  features.  Such  a  process  could  be  ap- 
plied to  Scott,  Bulwer  and  even  to  Thackeray  and 
Eliot  with  far  less  injurious  results. 

It  is  largely  through  this  sympathetic  element  that 
the  unwonted  popularity  of  the  author's  prose  is  ex- 
plained. "  Passion  is  catching."  The  reader  is  at 
once  attracted  and  enchained.  He  is  brought  into  the 
closest  relations  with  the  novelist  and  his  characters 
and  for  the  time  being  they  are  one.     It  is  this  ele- 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        457 

ment,  it  may  be  added,  that  will  go  far  to  make  the 
writings  of  Dickens  permanent  in  literature. 

(3.)  Humor  and  Satire. 

"  His  leading  quality,"  says  Mr.  Forster,  "  was 
Humor.  It  was  his  highest  faculty."  Without  ac- 
cepting this  statement  in  fall,  it  is  safe  to  class  it 
with  his  descriptive  skill  as  especially  prominent.  It 
was  an  organic  part  of  the  man.  •  Cheerfulness  was 
with  him  one  of  the  Christian  graces.  Probably  no 
character  in  English  Letters  more  fully  illustrates 
the  influence  on  style  'of  a  happy,  hopeful,  hearty 
temperament,  "  He  was  so  full  of  life,''  said  our  own 
Longfellow,  "that  it  did  not  seem  possible  he  could 
die."  This  often  took  the  form,  at  home  and  else- 
where, of  a  good-natured  expression  of  gladness  of 
heart  by  which  all  others  were  made  glad.  Often,  it 
took  the  form  of  innocent  pleasantry  and,  still  again, 
often  rose  in  its  best  expressions  to  the  highest  ex- 
ample of  humor  and  satire  combined.  He  could  not 
but  see  the  droll  side  of  men  and  things.  It  was  as 
natural  for  him  to  detect  the  eccentricities  as  the 
more  regular  features  of  character  and  one  glance  at 
an  object  was  sufficient  for  him  to  make  it  the  occa- 
sion of  genuine  English  mirth. 

To  attempt  to  cite  examples  of  this  quality  from 
Dickens'  prose  is  almost  needless  in  that  it  appears 
upon  nearly  every  page.  In  Sketches  of  Boz;  in  the 
character  of  Pickwick,  Sam  Weller  and  Do*  Sawyer, 
in  Pickwick  Papers;  in  the  history  of  tile  Sqneer's 
family,  in  Nicholas  Niokleby;  in  the  character  of 
Dick  Sniveller,  in    Old    Curiosity   Shop;    in   that  of 


458  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Pecksniff,  in  Martin  Chuzzlewit;  in  that  of  Mr. 
Micawber,  in  David  Copperfield;  in  that  of  the  horse- 
riders,  in  Hard  Times;  in  that  of  Mrs  Lirriper,  in 
Christmas  Sketches,  and,  in  fact,  wherever  we  please 
to  turn.  As  in  the  case  of  Charles  Lamb  and  Gold- 
smith, this  literary  pleasantry  is  often  closely  con- 
nected with  sadness.  It  is,  often,  the  serio-comic  in 
its  best  expression  and  with  the  two  elements  almost 
equally  present.  Critics  speak  of  the  mirth  and  sad- 
ness of  his  humor.  In  fact,  the  highest  forms  of 
humor  seem  to  contain  something  of  this  sober  ele- 
ment, and  yet  always  kept  in  due  subordination. 
Gerald  Massey  has  pronounced  Lamb  the  first  of 
English  Humorists.  The  judgment  seems  to  us  to  be 
incorrect.  There  was  far  too  much  of  the  mournful 
and  morose  to  make  it  wholesome  and  tonic. 

Dickens  was  his  superior  here,  in  that  while  there 
was  enough  of  the  serious  to  give  richness  and  body 
to  the  humor,  there  was  not  enough  to  make  it  in 
any  sense  unheal thful.  At  this  point  he  was  superior 
to  Swift,  as  being  free  from  his  morbid  propensity, 
and  was  even  superior  to  Thackeray,  as  having  less 
of  that  cynical  element  in  which  the  author  of  The 
Newcomes  loves  to  indulge.  That  sensitiveness  of 
soul  to  which  allusion  has  been  made  entered  into 
the  humor  of  Dickens  and  softened  it  without 
weakening  it. 

As  intimated,  this  quality  is  often  found  in  unison 
with  satire  in  all  the  varied  forms  of  irony — the 
mock-heroic,  innuendo  and  allusion.  He  was  a  mas- 
ter of  what  Forster  calls  "social  satire" — the  kindly 
criticism  of  what  he  thought  should  be  rebuked. 
Many  of  the  characters  already  adduced  in  the  line 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        459 

of  humor  illustrate  this  related  quality.  Others  might 
be  mentioned,  such  as  that  of  Uriah  Heep,  that  of 
of  Littimer  the  valet;  of  Mr.  Vlioles,  Mrs  Jellyby 
and  Mr.  Guppy;  of  Gradgrind;  of  Pip,  in  Great  Ex- 
pectations and  of  a  host  of  others.  In  a  few  rare 
instances,  this  satire  takes  the  form  of  harsh  in- 
vective, when  for  the  time  being,  as  in  parts  of 
Little  Dorrit,  he  seems  to  have  lost  the  fullness  of 
his  sympathy.  He  despised  everything  in  the  form 
of  pretense,  injustice  and  sham,  so  that  his  satire  is 
often  directed  against  systems  and  policies  as  well 
as  against  persons,  as  in  Oliver  Twist,  his  references 
to  parochial  management,  and  in  Little  Dorrit,  to 
British  officialism.  So,  also,  in  his  American  Notes 
and  in  Chuzzlewit  as,  also,  in  his  unjust  allusions 
to  persons  of  his  time,  in  Oliver  Twist  to  Landor, 
and  to  Leigh  Hunt  in  Bleak  House.  As  a  quality  of 
style,  however,  this  ironical  element  enters  to  play  a 
beneficent  part.  Its  close  connection  with  the  humor- 
ous saves  it  from  bitterness  and  makes  it  more  effi- 
cient. In  speaking  hereafter,  of  the  practical  char- 
acter of  Dickens'  style,  it  will  be  seen  what  an 
important  part  satire  performed  in  the  sum  total  of 
the  result.  The  special  point  to  be  emphasized  here 
is,  that  the  humor  controlled  the  satire  and  not,  the 
satire  the  humor.  Dickens  was  a  man  in  every  sense 
and  a  whole-hearted  Englishman.  lie  was  full  of 
life  and  good  feeling  with  an  eye  ever  open  to  the 
irregular  and  when  he  wrote  he  could  not  but  be 
jocose  and  comical.  Here,  again,  is  one  of  the  ele- 
ments that  will  give  perpetuity  to  his  prose.  It 
carries  its  own  impulse  with  it.  It  is  the  salt  that 
saves  it.     That  "  freshness  and  raciness"  of  style  of 


460  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

which  critics  so  often  speak,  finds  its  explanation  in 
this  feature.  It  is  more  than  what  Mr.  Lewes  is 
pleased  to  call  by  way  of  contempt,  "  mere  fun."  It 
is  a  natural  flow  of  genuine  good-will,  by  which  the 
reader  is  made  the  author's  friend.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  Dickens,  in  his  prose  fiction,  is  more  than  a 
mere  wit  as  Voltaire  was  in  France  or  Swift  in  Eng;- 
land.  He  cannot  rest  content  with  verbal  perver- 
sion, with  mere  punning,  but.  ascends  to  that  higher 
level  of  humor  where  the  process  is  psychological  and 
has  to  do  with  character.  Such  an  order  of  popular- 
prose  is  especially  in  place  in  modern  times  when 
there  are  so  many  tendencies  in  literature  that  are 
misanthropic  and  morose.  The  despondent  philoso- 
phy is  so  current  that  men  must  have  revealed  to 
them  the  lighter  side  of  life  lest  they  be  discouraged. 
We  are  not  speaking  now,  of  the  strictly  ethical 
side  of  Dickens'  prose,  but  it  is  in  place  to  affirm,  that 
the  controlling  tendency  of  it  was  cheering  and  up- 
lifting and  this  largely,  through  its  good-natured 
pleasantry.  He  aimed  to  do  in  his  writings  just  what 
at  his  home  at  Gad's  Hill  he  aimed  to  do  as  a  citizen 
— to  make  the  world  around  him  somewhat  cheerier 
by  his  presence  and  effort.  He  attempted  to  effect 
this  by  journalism,  by  active  participation  in  measures 
of  public  reform,  and  was  urged  by  some  of  his  ad- 
visers to  enter  the  House  of  Commons  in  order  the 
better  to  promote  the  public  good.  He  found  his 
sphere,  however,  as  a  novelist  and  has  presented  a 
body  of  prose  about  as  wholesome  and  cheerful  as 
any  in  our  literature.  If  it  is  entertaining  without 
being  enervating;  if  it  is  popular  without  being 
devoid  of  substantial  merit;  if  it  is  racy  and  readable 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS —DICKENS.        4G1 

without  being  superficial,  it  is  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  in  it  all,  humor  and  generous  satire  freely  com- 
bine with  all  the  weightier  qualities  to  interest  and 
relieve.  Prose  Fiction,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
must  largely  admit  of  this  attractive  element. 

(4.)  Practical  in  Character  and  Aim. 

Although  the  prose  before  us  is  properly  termed — 
prose  fiction,  there  is  a  basis  of  reality  in  it  all.  Fact 
and  fiction  combine.  The  latter  is  founded  upon  the 
former.  Nor  are  we  speaking  now,  simply  of  that 
species  of  the  novel,  known  as  the  historical,  where, 
as  in  Sir  Walter  Scott,  it  is  expected  at  the  outset, 
that  actual  recurrences  and  events  are  to  form  the 
groundwork  of  the  plot.  We  spuak  of  the  novel  in 
all  its  best  varieties  as  involving  this  element.  The 
terms,  romance,  fiction  and  novel  may  be  misleading 
here  and  indicative  of  the  absence  of  the  actual  and 
the  trite.  It  is  a  significant  fact  in  the  history  of 
fiction  that  as  we  ascend  from  the  lower  to  The 
higher  forms  of  the  novel,  the  element  of  reality  o 
and  practicalness  more  largely  enters.  Tn  the  novel 
of  sentiment,  and  that  onty,  the  merely  narrative 
rules.  In  the  novel  of  life  and  manners,  however,  as 
the  very  phrase  suggests,  we  are  at  once  in  the  region 
of  the  real  and  have  to  do  with  the  actual  world 
about  us.  Among  all  the  forms  of  fiction,  this  is  the 
most  characteristic  and  is  the  special  form  which 
Dickens  illustrates.  As  Forster  and  others  wisely  in- 
timate, it  is  no  less  impossible  than  it  is  needless  to 
draw  minute  distinctions  between  the  romantic  and 
the  realistic  in  the  best  prose  fiction.     Even  in  the 


4R2  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ethical  or  philosophical  novel,  as  seen  in  Eliot,  we 
have  the  practical  element  as  seen  in  its  other  name 
— the  novel  of  purpose.  If  Thackeray  is  more  realistic 
than  some  of  his  fellows,  this  is  not  to  say,  that  he  is 
in  any  true  sense  devoid  of  that  imaginative  power 
which  marks  the  writer  who  has  to  do  with  the  ideal. 

As  att3sting  the  practical  character  of  Dickens' 
style,  attention  may  be  called  both  to  the  general 
and  specifice  purposes  he  had  in  view.  His  general 
aim  was,  to  disseminate  wholesome  truth  among  the 
people  and,  on  the  negative  side,  to  reform  all  abuses 
and  ameliorate  the  condition  of  society.  More  speci- 
fically, wherever  he  saw  existing  wrong  or  possible 
opportunity  for  improvement,  he  addressed  himself 
as  a  writer  of  fiction  to  the  case  in  hand.  So  strong 
a  tendency  was  this  in  Dickens  that  some  critics,  as 
Mr.  Ward,  admit  that  the  author  was  in  great  danger 
of  forgetting  his  proper  work  as  a  novelist  in  the 
interests  of  social  reform.  However  this  may  have 
been,  he  gives  us  in  many  of  his  leading  works  a  rare 
combination  of  the  highest  literary  art  with  the  best 
practical  aims,  doing  a  work  here  so  nobly  done  by 
his  successor — Kingsley. 

Undoubtedly,  his  early  experience  in  journalism 
and  more  especially  as  a  parliamentary  reporter,  gave 
him  that  personal  insight  into  affairs  which  made  his 
course  as  a  novelist  clear  to  him.  Eeaders  of  his  life 
are  familiar  with  the  accounts  of  his  profound  inter- 
est in  all  matter??  of  popular  progress — on  the  ques- 
tions of  temperance,  prison  life,  penal  laws,  Sabbath 
observance  and  the  rights  of  the  laboring  classes. 

What  he  gives  us  as  to  the  Debtor's  Prison,  in 
Pickwick;  as  to  the  Yorkshire  Schools,  in  Nicholas 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        463 

Nickleby;  as  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  in  Bleak 
House;  as  to  Parish  Oversight,  in  Oliver  Twist;  as  to 
Administrative  Abuses,  in  little  Dorrit;  as  to  Oppres- 
sion of  the  Poor,  in  Hard  Times;  as  to  what  he  culls 
"Social  Flunkeyism,"  in  our  Mutual  Friend;  and  as 
to  Hypocrisy  in  Chuzzlewit,  will  sufficiently  confirm 
the  presence  of  this  principle.  All  is  fact  here  save 
the  verbal  form  in  which,  for  the  best  effect,  the  au- 
thor sees  fit  to  present  it.  The  element  of  the  real  is 
almost  as  prominent  a  factor  as  it  is  in  Macaulay's 
History  of  England,  or  Addison's  Spectator. 

It  is  this  same  feature  of  style  that  appears  in  his 
uniform  preference  of  actual  persons  aud  scenes  as 
the  material  of  his  works.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  at 
times,  led  him  to  extremes  of  personal  reference.  In 
the  main,  it  was  wisely  applied  and  gave  to  his 
fiction  the  force  of  historic  narrative. 

In  Bob  Fagin,  of  Oliver  Twist,  is  represented  one 
of  the  boys  at  the  Hacking  warehouse  at  Hungerford 
stairs.  In  Mrs.Pipchin  of  Dombey  and  Son,  was  the 
old  lady  who  kept  the  lodging-house  in  Little-College 
Street.  In  the  character  of  the  Marchioness  in  Old 
Curiosity  Shop,  in  his  references  to  the  Garland  fami- 
ly and  Salem  House  the  same  principle  is  illustrated. 
The  originals  of  Boythorn  and  Skimpole;  cf  Chancery 
abuses  in  Bleak  House;  of  Copperfield,  Dora,  Miss 
Moucher  and  Mieawber  in  David  Copperfield;  of 
Miss  Blimber  and  the  Little  Wooden  Midshipman,  in 
Dombey;  of  the  Opium  Eater  in  Edwin  Drood:  of 
Mrs.  Gamp,  in  Chuzzlewit;  of  Satis  House,  in  Great 
Expectations;  of  Mrs.  Clennam,  in  Little  Dorritt;  of 
Eden,  in  Chuzzlewit;  of  the  Brothers  Cheery ble  in 
Nickleby;  of  Mr.  Fang,  in  Oliver  Twist,  and  of  Pick- 


464  ENGLISH    PROSE. 

wick  in  Pickwick  Papers, — all  these  are  illustrative 
of  that  deep  desire  he  had  to  combine  the  real  and 
the  romantic  or  indeed  to  make  the  one  the  basis  of 
the  other. 

Dr.  Jowett  in  his  eulogium  of  Dickens  in  West- 
minister Abbey  makes  special  reference  to  this  practi- 
cal character  of  the  man  and  the  author.  "He  made 
it  his  business  to  rebuke  vice  and  pretence  where- 
ever  he  found  it  as  he  rebukes  selfishness  in  Chuz- 
zlewit  and  pride  in  Dombey."  In  such  characters  as 
Pecksniff  and  Gradgrind  he  has  not  only  exhibited 
high  power  as  a  novelist  but  has  personally  aided  the 
cause  of  good  morals  for  all  time.  There  are  few 
scenes  more  suggestive  than  those  in  which  he  is 
found,  as  at  the  door  of  Whitechapel  Workhouse, 
striving  at  the  same  time  to  relieve  human  wants 
and  to  secure  for  future  literary  use  a  true  account  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  poor. 

Mr.  Kuskin  in  commenting  on  one  of  the  author's 
novels  (Hard  Times)  while  taking  exception  to  some 
matters  makes  the  strong  statement — "  He  is  entirely 
right  in  his  main  drift  and  purpose  in  every  book  he 
has  written,  and  all  of  them  should  be  studied  with 
close  and  earnest  care  by  persons  interested  in  social 
questions."  The  mere  cursory  reader  of  Dickens' 
prose  secures  no  adequate  idea  of  this  business-like 
quality  of  his  style.  He  was  a  social  reformer  as 
were  Howard  and  Wilberforce,  only  in  a  different 
way.  Never  has  literature  been  so  fully  made  the 
instrument  of  direct  national  benefit.  The  wide  re- 
ception which  Dickens'  writings  have  met  in  Great 
Britain  and  elsewhere  is  not  altogether  due  to  their 
literary   character  as   works  of  fiction,   but  to  their 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS— DICKENS.        465 

practical  character  as  in  the  interests  of  the  public. 
He  did  what  Bunyan  did — presented  life  in  allegory, 
and  in  each  case  the  results  were  marvelous.  He  did 
in  his  own  way  what  Milton  and  Addison  and  Burke 
did  in  theirs.  There  is  in  all  the  best  English  Prose, 
this  utilitarian  element.  The  true  and  the  beautiful 
are  one.  He  writes  the  best  who  writes  for  a  definite 
objective  end. 

(5.)  Ease  and  Naturalness. 

Dickens  is  remarkable  as  a  prose  writer  in  this 
respect,  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  which  one  of  sev- 
eral leading  qualities  is  clearly  the  most  prominent. 
Some  hold  that  it  is  his  humor;  others,  that  it  is  his 
descriptive  power  or  his  pathos,  and  others  still,  that 
it  is  the  marvelous. facility  and  freshness  with  which 
he  writes.  Almost  the  only  critic  of  prominence  who 
dissents  from  this  view  is  Mr.  Taine  who  suggests 
that  in  the  complexity  of  his  narrative  he  lacks  sim- 
plicity. This  criticism,  however,  is  to  be  taken  with 
caution  and  we  may  safely  endorse  the  judgment  of 
that  large  body  of  scholars  who  have  spoken  of  the 
pre-eminence  of  this  quality.  It  appears  very  largely 
in  that  feature  of  his  style  already  studied  as  the  de- 
scriptive, as,  also,  in  the  pathetic  and  humorous 
elements.  Still,  it  has  a  distinctive  presence  and 
power  of  its  own  and  deserves  separate  discussion. 
But  little  has  been  written  respecting  the  diction  or 
sentence  structure  of  Dickens'  prose  and  it  is  just  here 
that  much  of  his  rhetorical  and  literary  ease  ap- 
pears. It  is  in  fact  because  of  his  comparative  freedom 
from  common  fault  in  these  directions  that  so  little 


466  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

has  been  noted  regarding1  them.  As  soon  as  one  be- 
gins the  reading  of  Bacon  or  Johnson  or  Carlyle  the 
questions  of  phraseology  and  structure  at  once  arise. 
In  the  author  before  us,  the  very  naturalness  pre- 
vents the  starting  of  the  question  as  to  merit  or 
demerit.  Mr.  Ward  quotes  him  as  saying  to  Wilkie 
Collins  that  "  underlining  was  not  his  nature."  The 
meaning  of  the  words  and  sentences  took  care  of 
itself.  The  emphasis  of  the  various  parts  followed 
the  law  of  nature  and  could  not  be  easily  mistaken. 
Readers  of  his  novels  must  have  noticed  the  felicitous 
way  he  has  of  stating  what  he  has  to  say  as  he  wishes 
to  say  it  and  stopping  there.  There  are  instances, 
indeed,  where  for  the  sake  of  oddity  and  humor  he 
adopts  quaint  phrases  and  paraphrase,  as  in  Pick- 
wick, Pecksniff"  and  in  other  characters.  These  how- 
ever were  aside  from  his  regular  habit  and  intensify 
by  contrast  the  naturalness  of  his  ordinary  style. 
Dickens  was  in  no  sense  a  "  bookish "  man.  He 
preferred  life  to  literature  itself.  It  was  his  joy,  not 
so  much  that  he  wrote,  as  that  he  wrote  for  the  peo- 
ple, as  he  says,  "  for  the  hearth  and  the  home.*'  Hence, 
his  style  was  eminently  popular  and  became  more 
and  more  so  as  his  work  went  on. 

The  words  affixed  to  his  first  work — Sketches  by 
Boz — illustrative  of  Every  Day  Life  and  Every  Day 
People,  might  have  been  added  to  each  of  his  novels. 
He  was  a  student  of  nature  and  human  nature  and 
wrote  a  style  so  homely  as  to  be  understood  by  the 
common  classes  and,  yet,  not  so  homely  as  to  be 
neglected  by  the  educated.  There  is  very  much  in 
Dickens'  prose  of  the  simplicity  of  Fuller,  Walton 
and    Bunyan    and    the    older    English   writers.     His 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS —DICKENS.        467 

want  of  knowledge  of  the  classics,  while  it  had  its 
disadvantages,  had  also  the  advantage  of  shutting 
him  up  more  closely  to  a  line  of  diction  and  form  of 
structure  entirely  English. 

In  fine,  Dickens  wrote  a  popular  prose  and  largely 
due  to  that  ease  and  naturalness  of  which  we  speak. 
His  early  experience  in  journalism  and  his  habit  of 
writing  in  short  serial  form  as  in  Household  Words 
did  much  to  increase  the  facility  of  his  style.  It  is 
at  this  point  as  at  many  others,  that  Dickens  differs 
in  such  marked  degree  from  the  school  of  George 
Eliot.  There  is  nothing  of  the  abstruse  and  met- 
aphysical either  in  idea  or  expression — no  leanied 
references  to  Plato  and  Tasso  and  the  philosophers, 
but  a  "plain,  unvarnished  tale,"  so  that  "he  that 
runs  may  read.''  He  is  superior,  at  this  point,  even 
to  Thackeray  and  Charlotte  Bronte  and  fully  the 
equal  of  Scott  and  Kingsley,  Macdonald  and  Bulwer. 
There  are  but  few  of  those  mystic  phrases  in  which 
the  author  of  Vivian  Grey  and  Endymion  loves  to  in- 
dulge, but  an  out  and  out  straightforwardness.  We 
have  spoken  of  Dickens'  style  as  felicitous.  There 
is  no  better  word  by  which  to  express  it.  Its  effect 
is  a  happy  one.  It  is  the  transfer  of  nature  to  the 
printed  page.  It  is  a  facile  and  spontaneous  ex- 
pression of  simple  ideas  whereby  the  reader  isalike 
charmed  and  instructed. 

DEFECTS  OF   STYLE. 

Dickens'  prose  has  its  faults  and  they  have  not 
been  allowed  to  escape.  As  in  the  case  of  Keats  and 
Wordsworth,   critics   have    arisen   who    seem    to    be 


468  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

more  desirous  of  inflicting  wounds  upon  sensitive 
natures  than  of  serving  the  highest  interests  of 
letters.  Students  are  aware  of  the  application  of 
this  destructive  criticism  in  special  instances,  as  at 
the  appearance  of  Bleak  House.  The  "  dogs  of  war  " 
were  "  let  loose  "  and  "  Havoc  "  !  seemed  to  be  the  cry. 
It  was  when  the  author  was  in  his  prime  and  just 
after  the  great  success  of  Copperfield.  It  was,  also, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  success  of  Bleak  House  was 
unprecedented  and  that  in  construction  and  general 
character  it  marked  a  high  order  of  power.  Still,  cer- 
tain of  the  critics  "  of  the  baser  sort '"  spoke  contemp- 
tuously of  the  author  and  his  work,  acknowledged 
some  evidences  of  genius,  but — they  called  him  a 
charlatan  and  caricaturist,  spoke  of  his  plan  as  crude 
and  of  his  characters  as  grotesque  and  unnatural  and 
greatly  lamented  that  he  could  not  rise  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  "  high  born  and  wealthy."  This  school 
of  critics  has  continued  since  the  publication  of  Bleak 
House,  in  1852,  and  finds  its  latest  exponents,  as  al- 
already  suggested,  in  Mr.  Taine  and  Mr.  Lewes.  The 
one  may  be  said  to  represent  the  foreign  and  the 
other,  the  English  school  of  criticism,  agreeing,  how- 
ever, in  serious  objections  to  the  wide-famed  novelist, 
as  a  man  whose  fancy  ran  wildly  away  with  him. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  at  this  point,  that  Mr.  Taine's 
relation  to  French  Fiction,  as  illustrated  in  Balzac, 
Sand-  and  others,  and  Mr.  Lewes'  relation  to  that 
school  of  English  Fiction  of  which  his  wife  was  the 
head,  made  it  impossible  for  either  of  them  fairly  to 
sir  in  judgment  upon  Dickens'  work.  In  each  case 
there  were  ends  to  serve  while  quite  apart  from  this, 
the  adverse  criticism  so  overreaches  itself  as  to  have 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        469 

but  little  weight  with  candid  minds.  Sensitive  as 
he  was  to  the  opinions  of  others  he  would  willingly 
have  yielded  to  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Words- 
worth— "  I  am  not  at  all  desirous  that  any  one 
should  write  a  critique  on  my  poems.  If  they  be 
from  above,  they  will  do  their  own  work  in  course  of 
time;  if  not,  they  will  perish  as  they  ought."  As  he 
says  in  his  will,  "  I  rest  my  claim  to  the  remembrance 
of  my  country  upon  my  published  works." 

This  conceded,  there  is  safe  ground  on  which  some 
features  of  the  style  of  Dickens  may  be  judged  and 
condemned.  He  had  defects  and  blemishes  and, 
yet,  not  enough  to  depose  him  from  that  high  rank 
he  has  so  long  occupied  as  an  able  and  a  facile  writer 
of  English. 

Some  of  these  defects  of  style  we  shall  briefly 
consider. 

(1.)  Want  of  Philosophical  Power. 

Of  the  four  great  classes  of  novels — The  Descriptive 
Historical,  Sentimental  and  Psychological,  Dickens 
would  not  have  succeeded  in  the  last  as  he  did  in  the 
first.  The  structure  of  his  style  follows  the  structure 
of  his  mind.  Even  as  to  his  earliest  relations  to  lit- 
erature we  are  told  "  that  the  artists  of  the  stage, 
whom  he  most  admired,  were  not  those  of  the  high- 
est mental  type."  It  has  been  strenuously  held  by 
some  as  confirmed  by  his  works,  that  the;  portraiture 
of  the  highest  type  of  man  was  outside  of  his  sphere 
and  power.  The  genius  for  characterization  as  dis- 
tinct from  that  for  mere  caricature,  is  denied  him. 
It    is  just  here   that   Taine   and    Lewes   deal   their 


470  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

sharpest  blows  against  him,  as  being  more  of  an  en- 
thusiast than  a  thinker.  They  contend  that  his 
style  is  not  marked  by  that  "  high  thinking"  of  which 
Wordsworth  speaks,  but  rather  by  the  presence  of 
those  elements  which  make  it  readable  and  popular 
only.  His  imagination,  they  say,  was  poetic  and  in 
no  sense,  philosophic;  that  he  gives  us  the  description 
rather  than  the  thorough  analysis  of  character,  and 
that,  thus,  the  highest  effect  of  his  fiction  is  a  ge- 
nial form  of  literary  pleasure  rather  than  an  intel- 
lectual discipline  and  profit.  There  is  an  element  of 
truth  in  this  and,  beyond  question,  it  marks  the  point 
at  which  the  author  is  the  weakest.  Dickens  was  in 
no  definite  sense  a  scholar.  Apart  from  the  sphere 
of  nature  and  human  life,  he  was  not  in  the  mental 
view  of  it,  a  student.  Some  of  his  views  on  the  great 
political  questions  of  his  day  and,  more  especially,  his 
hasty  conclusions  as  to  American  life  and  character, 
manifest  an  order  of  mind  which  had  but  little  to  do 
with  logical  processes.  Mr.  Ruskin,  in  commenting 
on — Hard  Times — well  remarks — "  I  wish,  when  he 
takes  up  a  subject  of  high  national  importance,  that 
he  would  use  severer  and  more  accurate  analysis." 
Critics  speak  correctly  of  his  want  of  logical  con- 
structive power  as  seen  in  most  of  his  earlier  novels, 
;is  in  Pickwick,  and  in  the  later,  as  in  Nickleby  and 
Copperfield.  The  charge  against  Bleak  House  is 
"  absolute  want  of  construction,"  and  though  ably 
met  by  Forster  is  still  in  place. 

In  fact,  Dickens'  mind  and  style,  in  this  respect, 
are  discursive  rather  than  didactic.  He  observes 
facts  better  than  he  reasons  on  the  facts  furnished 
him   by  observation.     The   serial  method    which  he 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        471 

adopted  so  largely  in  his  publications  had  some 
advantages  in  the  way  of  viewing  a  continuous  story 
or  plot  in  separate  sections,  but  it  had  the  great  dis- 
advantage of  magnifying  the  part  above  the  whole 
and  of  cutting  in  twain  at  various  points  the  logical 
sequence  of  the  thought.  Serial  as  the  method  was, 
it  was  "  discontinuous."  Allusion  has  been  made  to 
the  wide  difference  between  George  Eliot's  style  and 
that  of  Dickens.  The  difference  lies  mainly  at  this 
point  and  with  reference  to  it  exclusively  is  decidedly 
in  favor  of  the  former.  Dickens'  style  has  its  great 
merits  and  mission,  but  it  is  not  in  the  sphere  of  the 
purely  intellectual.  Prose  Fiction  is  not  the  highest 
form  of  prose,  partly  because  of  the  nature  of  it  as  semi- 
poetical  and  partly  because  of  its  ultimate  purpose. 

It  is  still  an  open  question  whether  Dickens  did 
uot  owe  much  of  his  success  to  the  fact  that  he 
worked  in  a  literary  sphere  where  the  highest  forms 
of  intellectual  power  were  not  demanded  in  order  to 
the  best  results.  Even  in  this  sphere,  however,  he 
confined  himself  to  descriptive  work,  save  in  Barnaby 
Rudge  and  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities.  He  had  but  little 
aptitude  for  the  historical  novel  as  compai'ed  with 
Scott  and  Kingsley,  and  none  whatever  for  the  philo- 
sophical, as  compared  with  Eliot.  Here,  therefore, 
is  limitation  of  area  and  of  power.  The  student  of 
style  must  look  to  Dickens  for  that  only  which  he 
has  to  offer  him.  He  must  not  expect  to  find  any 
great  examples  of  psychological  dissection.  His 
prose  is  entertaining  rather  than  educating  and 
stimulating.  It  leaves  the  reader  happier,  and  on 
the  whole,  better,  but  none  the  stronger  in  men- 
tal fiber  and  possibility. 


472  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

la  this  respect  Dickens'  style  fails  just  where  Prose 
Fiction  as  an  order  of  prose  fails — in  mental  enlarg- 
ment  and  suggestion.  Good  as  it  is  in  its  proper 
place,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  as  long  as  it  continues 
to  form  the  larger  part  of  the  people's  intellectual 
food,  so  long  will  the  popular  mind  fail  to  reach  the 
highest  levels  of  intelligence  and  mental  growth. 

(2.)  Want  of  Artistic  Finish. 

The  question  here,  is  not  that  started  by  some  crit- 
ics—which is  the  more  important,  essential  excellence 
of  subject-matter  or  external  execution?  On  this  there 
need  be  no  doubt.  The  pi-inoiple  is  that  these  should 
exist  together  in  all  the  highest  forms  of  prose.  In 
fact,  the  more  excellent  the  idea,  the  more  excellent 
the  outer  form  should  be.  When  thought  and  stvle 
exist  in  the  inverse  ratio  in  an}7  writer  it  proves  on 
his  part  total  ignorance  as  to  the  vital  relation  of  the 
two  and  nullifies  the  value  of  each.  There  is,  un- 
doubtedly, in  fiction  as  a  form  of  prose,  a  strong 
temptation  to  the  coarse  and  clownish.  It  is  far 
easier  for  the  novelist  to  violate  the  "proprieties" 
and  feel  guiltless  than  it  is  for  the  biographer,  his- 
torian or  literary  critic  so  to  do.  It  is  the  prime 
object  of  fiction  to  present  life  just  as  it  is  and  as  the 
writer  is  engaged  in  his  personations,  he  unconsci- 
ously passes  from  legitimate  freedom  of  manner  to 
looseness  and  grossness.  The  ecsthetio  element  in  its 
best  form  is  too  often  absent  as  we  read  Dickens. 
He  often  yields,  for  supposed  effect,  to  undue  license 
here. 

Some  of  the  forms  of  this  error  may  be  noted. 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        473 

It  is  seen,  often,  in  the  way  of  exaggeration  as  in 
Hard  Times,  Little  Dorritt,  and  other  examples;  in 
that  verboseness  so  common  to  the  best  specimens  of 
fiction,  and  most  especially  in  what  may  be  called  the 
— artifice  or  mannerism  of  his  style.  Repeated  atten- 
tion has  been  called  to  this  artistic  defect  both  by 
friends  and  foes.  This  error  is  noticeable  in  Oliver 
Twist;  in  Barnaby  Rudge;  in  Bleak  House  with  its 
"  overstrained  tone  ";  in  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities;  in  Our 
Mutual  Friend;  in  Chuzzlewit  and  Nickleby.  Mr. 
Ward  in  forecasting  the  probable  future  of  Dickens 
as  a  prose  writer  alludes  to  the  error  now  before  us 
as  one  of  his  "characteristic  faults.''  He  justifies  it, 
however,  on  the  ground  that  "  mannerism  is  incident 
to  every  original  manner";  to  Carlyle,  Thackeray 
and  Macaulay.  This  is  true  and  yet  its  presence  mars 
the  style.  Nor  must  mannerism  be  confounded  with 
originality,  as  Mr.  Ward  seems  to  confound  it.  In- 
ventive genius  is  one  thing,  artifice  is  quite  another, 
and  our  author  is  found  far  too  frequently  at  fault  in 
the  latter.  The  error  of  "forced  construction"  is 
somewhat  incident  to  all  fiction.  At  this  point 
Dickens  would  have  written  better  had  he  writtea 
less.  He  had  scarcely  the  time  to  complete  his 
work  as  to  artistic  form  and  detail.  The  Mystery  of 
Edwin  Drood  is  not  his  only  unfoiislted  work. 

Probable  Permanence  of  his  Prose. 

As  to  the  future  of  Dickens'  fame  as  a  novelist  and 
writer  of  English  Prose,  various  opinions  have  been 
broached.  Naturally,  those  of  the  school  of  Lewes 
and  Taine  predict  a  brief  and  uncertain  reputation  in 


474  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

history.  Others,  less  extreme,  see  no  special  reason 
for  an  ever-widening  popularity  and  would  not  be 
surprised  to  mark  a  gradual  decadence  of  influence. 
Others  still,  pass  to  the  other  extreme  of  forecasting 
an  earthly  immortality  for  the  author  equal  to  that 
for  which  they  contend  in  the  case  of  Shakespeare. 
In  the  analysis  of  the  authors  style,  already  given, 
enough  has  been  said  to  mark  both  the  extent  and 
the  limitations  of  his  future  renown,  and  to  indicate, 
as  we  judge,  a  good  degree  of  literary  influence  in 
the  years  to  come.  Local  as  much  of  his  fiction  is  in 
the  occasion  of  its  origin,  the  issues  at  stake  were, 
after  all,  living  issues  for  the  most  part  and  as  such 
have  to  do  with  the  continuous  history  of  the  race. 
There  are  Pecksniffs,  Fagins  and  Gradgrinds  in  every 
age  and  as  they  arise  they  need  rebuke.  Hypocrisy, 
pride  and  selfishness  are  the  same  now  as  then,  while 
the  nobler  characters  and  virtues  that  he  portrayed 
will  ever  elicit  affection  and  respect.  Quite  apart 
from  all  this,  as  a  mere  question  of  style  and  literary 
art,  the  qualities  mentioned  are  enough  to  conserve 
any  authorship  in  which  they  inhere.  No  writer  can 
evince  such  descriptive  skill,  pathos,  humor,  practical 
purpose  and  verbal  ease  and  not  continue  to  hold  a 
prominent  place  in  current  literature.  The  want  of 
close  logical  acuteness  and  of  external  finish  cannot 
so  seriously  impair  such  a  style  as  to  prevent  its  his- 
torical continuance.  This  is  especially  so  when  the 
subject-  matter  itself  is  in  the  sphere  of  fiction  as 
the  most  popular  form  of  prose.  Dr.  Jowett  remarks 
substantially  that  Dickens,  for  the  last  thirty-five 
years  of  his  life  (1835-70)  occupied  a  larger  space  in 
the  minds  of  Englishmen  than  any  other  writer.      Mr. 


REPRESENTATIVE     WRITERS— DICKENS.        475 

Forster  opens  his  eulogistic  biography  with  the  refer- 
ence to  Dickens  as  "  the  most  popular  novelist  of  the 
century."  Each  of  these  statements  was  true  when 
made. 

Modern  critics,  favorably  disposed,  need  not,  how- 
ever, insist  upon  such  high  eulogium  at  present  in 
order  to  prove  the  probable  continuance  of  the  au- 
thor's fame,  but  only  show  that  he  still  holds  a  pro- 
minent and  substantial  place  in  English  Prose  and 
bids  fair  to  retain  it  for  generations.  "  He  would  be 
a  bold  man,"  writes  Ward,  as  to  Pecksniff,  "  who 
should  declare  that  its  popularity  has  very  materially 
diminished  at  the  present  day."  This  remark  may 
apply  to  all  his  best  productions  and  to  his  general 
style  as  a  novelist  as  he  adds — "There  is  no  reason 
whatever  to  believe  that  since  his  death  the  delight 
taken  in  his  works  through  England  and  North 
America,  as  Avell  as  elsewhere,  has  diminished. 
Morley  and  Tyler,  in  their  recent  Manual  of  English 
Literature,  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  "  he  is  still  the 
most  widely  read  novelist  that  England  has  pro- 
duced." This  assertion  is  made  in  view  of  Beacons- 
field,  Bronte,  Bulwer  and  Thackeray,  and  he  who 
denies  it  must  prove  its  falsity. 

As  to  the  influence  of  his  style,  reference  is  made 
Joy  critics  to  what  even  Carlyle  and  Eliot  obtained 
from  him  by  way  of  impulse  and  suggestion;  to  what 
Continental  and  American  romancers,  such  as  Auer- 
bach  and  Harte  have  owed  to  him,  and  to  the  gener- 
al stimulus  which  all  must  have  gotten  from  him  who 
attempt  in  any  worthy  way  to  pen  the  novel  of  Life 
and  Manners. 

In  estimating  more  accurately  the  probable  future 


47G  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

of  the  author,  the  most  serious  argument  against  the 
conservation  of  his  full  power,  lies  in  the  direction  of 
the  ethical.  "  It  has  been  objected,"  says  Mr.  Forster, 
"  that  humanity  receives  from  him  no  addition  to  its 
best  types;  that  the  burlesque  humorist  is  always 
stronger  in  him  than  the  reflective  moralist;  that  the 
light  thrown  by  his  genius  into  out-of-the-way  cor- 
ners of  life  never  steadily  shines  in  its  higher  beaten 
ways;  and  that  beside  his  pictures  of  what  man  is  or 
does,  there  is  no  attempt  to  show,  by  delineation  of 
an  exalted  purpose  or  a  great  career,  what  man  is 
able  to  be  or  do."  The  criticism  is  acknowledged  by 
his  biographer  as  abstractly  just,  and  he  attempts  to 
answer  it  fully  by  showing  that  indirectly,  if  not  di- 
rectly, the  author  served  the  highest  moral  ends,  that 
as  a  genius  he  must  be  allowed  to  take  his  own  way 
and  not  be  held  responsible  for  not  doing  good  just  as 
Milton  and  Addison  did  it.  There  is  truth  in  this 
adverse  criticism  and  some  truth  in  the  refutation. 
The  answer,  however,  is  not  satisfactory.  Dickens 
was  a  moralist  of  a  high  order.  He  was  a  genuine 
philanthropist.  Fie  saw  "  good  in  everything  "  and 
aimed  to  show  the  "soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil." 
He  did  a  vast  and  generous  work,  as  we  have  seen, 
on  the  side  of  social  and  public  morals  and  for  the 
common  weal  of  his  fellows.  The  moral  purity  of 
his  style  is  such  that  the  most  delicate  taste  need  not 
be  offended.     All  is  correct  and  in  good  order. 

Still,  there  is  something  wanting  to  the  fullest  force 
of  the  style  on  its  ethical  side.  The  allusion  here  is 
not  to  his  intense  hatred  of  cant,  Puritanical  strait- 
ness,  ecclesiasticism  and  all  forms  of  Pharisaism,  nor 
to  his  advocacy  of  a  somewhat  liberal  Sabbath  for  the 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— DICKENS.        477 

people  and  an  "  undogmatie  theology."  As  far  as 
Romanism  was  concerned,  he  was  a  Protestant,  and 
but  little,  if  anything  more  can  be  said.  Connected 
by  birth  and  training  with  the  English  Church,  he  is 
found  in  middle  life  an  advocate  of  Unitarianism, 
which  for  the  time,  meant  for  him  simply  freedom 
from  restriction  of  creed  or  form.  He  based  his  be- 
liefs on  the  New  Testament  and  ignored  the  Old. 
He  let  no  occasion  pass  for  turning  his  satire  on 
special  goodness  in  the  form  of  piety,  and  could 
scarcely  speak  of  the  clergy  without  injustice  and  pre- 
judice. There  is  something  suspicious  in  all  this  and 
the  keen-eyed  reader  of  Dickens'  prose  will  detect  be- 
tween the  lines  that  something  is  absent  that  should  be 
present.  The  usual  question  at  this  point  is — whether 
Dickens,  as  a  writer,  will  stand  the  full  Baconian  test, 
"  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  relief  of  man's  estate," 
or  that  exemplified  in  John  Milton — "as  ever  in 
my  Great  Task-Master's  eye."  We  believe  not.  His 
prose  is  an  example  of  classic  English  and  is  ethically 
pure.  It  is  instinct  with  noble  sentiments  and  per- 
vaded by  a  worthy  purpose  on  the  behalf  of  men. 
This  is  its  merit  but  this  is  its  limit.  At  this  point 
he  is  immeasurably  superior  to  Swift  and  Smollett, 
whom  he  too  fondly  loved,  but  far  inferior  to  such  En- 
glish writers  as  Bacon,  Milton,  Addison  and  Kingsley. 
In  the  broad  daylight  of  our  life,  when  all  is  bright 
and  all  is  well,  his  prose  is  a  source  of  additional 
happiness  and  hope,  but  he  has  little  for  us  when  the 
night  cometh  and  the  "  lights  are  low  "  and  we  need 
the  safest  guidance  through  the  darkness  into  day. 

Dickens'  prose  will    be  permanently  popular,   but 
mainly  among  those  who  read  it  purely  as  a  product 


478  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  literary  art  and  for  the  ends  of  literary  profit  and 
pleasure.  To  those  who  look  for  higher  things,  other 
minds  must  minister. 

He  was  a  novelist  out  and  out.  His  style  is  unique 
and  masterly  in  that  sphere  of  authorship,  and  will 
ever  be  studied  with  profit  by  him  who  desires  to 
write  an  order  of  English,  which,  though  it  may  not 
be  marked  by  logical  acuteness,  philosophic  breadth, 
deep  religious  life  or  exquisite  finish,  is  withal,  clear, 
simple,  facile  and  practical. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Forster's  Life  of  Dickens.  Ward's — Dickens  (Eng. 
Men  of  Let.).  Whipple's  Lit.  and  Life.  Taine's  Eng. 
Lit.     Field's — Yesterday  with  Authors. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
THE  PEOSE  STYLE  OF  THOMAS  CARLTLE. 

Brief  Biographical  Sketch. 

Born  Dec.  4th,  1795,  in  Eeclefechan,  Scotland. 
Educated  at  Parish  School  and  at  Annan.  Entered 
Edinburgh  University,  1810.  Left  in  1814.  Taught 
at  Annan  and  Kircaldy.  From  1823,  devoted  to  au- 
thorship. Lived  at  Craigenputtoch,  1828-34.  Thence 
to  Chelsea.  London.  Lord  Rector  of  Edinburgh,  1&65. 
Died  in  1881. 

His  Prose  Writings. 

These  may  be  mentioned  substantially,  as  follows: 

French  Re  vo  I  id  ion  (1837). 

Oliver  CromioeWs  Letters  and  Speeches  (1845). 

Life  of  Schiller  (1823-4).  Examination  of  his  Writings. 

Life  of  John  Sterling  (1851). 

History  of  Frederic  II  (1858-05). 

Sartor  R ■  sarins  (1833  65). 

Lectures  on  Heroes,  Hero  IVorship  (1840). 

Past  ami  Present  (184:',). 

Latter  Day  Pamphlets  (1850). 

Chartism  (LS39). 

Critical  and  Miscellaneous  Essays  (1838). 


480  ENGLISH  PROSF. 

Translations  from  the  German  (1825-7). 

Wilhelm  Meister  (translation)  (1823-4). 

Specimens  of  German  Bomance  (1827). 

Early  Kings  of  Norway. 

Unpublished :  Lectures  on  History  of  Literature  (1837). 
Restoration  of  Modern  Europe  (1839). 

Other  productions  such  as,  his  Translation  of  Le- 
gendres  Geometry,  need  not  here  be  mentioned. 

CHARACTERISTIC  MERITS  OF  HIS  STYLE. 

(1.)  Original. 

If  the  prose  of  Carlyle  has  but  one  feature,  it  is 
this.  Critics  who  doubt  and  discuss  as  to  all  other 
qualities  are  at  one  here.  The  reader  has  but  to  turn 
r  at  random  to  any  page  in  the  best  specimens  of  the 
'  author  to  see  the  illustration  of  this.  It  is  safe  to 
affirm  that  this  characteristic  may  be  said  to  belong 
to  Cai^lyle  as  a  writer  with  as  little  question  as 
any  literary  quality  belongs  to  any  separate  writer. 
Some  prefer  to  call  it  by  different  names,  but  it  is,  in 
reality,  one  and  the  same  element.  It  may  be  termed 
the  eccentric  or  quaint  or  unconventional  or  inven- 
tive. In  any  case,  it  is  original.  It  is  the  real 
Carlylese.  We  read  in  his  life,  that  as  a  man  he 
liked  that  "independence  through  which  he  could 
he  enabled  to  remain  true  to  himself";  that  he 
sought  retiracy  in  order  that  he  might  think  for 
himself  and  not  merely  as  the  multitude. 

He  did  not  so  much  "strive  to  invent  a  new  sort 
of  style,"  as  Mr.  Hutton  has  it,  but  wrote  naturally 
in  a  manner  and  order  of  his  own,  quite  irrespective 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS  —CARLYLE.        481 

of  the  canons  of  the  schools  or  the  habits  of  his 
contemporaries.  As  Bacon  introduced  a  new  method 
of  philosophy  into  England,  so  Carlyle,  in  his  prose, 
widely  departed  from  all  existing  models  and  became 
his  own  example  and  guide.  He  had  opened,  in  a  -~ 
sense,  a  new  literary  world  and  asked  no  cue  to  dic-r/ 
tate  to  him  as  to  how  it  should  be  worked.  There  is 
a  way  of  putting  things  that  marks  inventive  ability, 
and  Carlyle  was  an  adept  in  the  art.  On  almost 
every  page  the  evidences  of  this  originality  appear, 
in  the  form  of  passages  that  are  so  striking  as  to  ar- 
rest and  hold  attention.  The  ideas  themselves  we 
may  have  heard  a  score  of  times,  but  in  the  novelty 
of  their  form  they  give,  at  the  time,  the  impression 
of  absolute  freshness  of  utterance,  as  in  the  following : 
"I  should  not  have  known  what  to  make  of*  this 
world  at  all,"  said  Carlyle  to  Froude,  "if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  French  Revolution."  In  his  wonderful 
correspondence  with  Mr.  Emerson,  as  ably  edited  in 
this  country  by  Prof.  Norton,  of  Harvard  University, 
we  find  a  passage  of  this  order  which  is  but  the  rep 
resentative  of  numbers  in  the  same  series  of  letters. - 

"There  is,"  he  says,  "a  word,  which  if  spoken  to 
men,  to  the  actual  generation  of  men,  would  thrill 
their  inmost  souls,  but  how  to  find  that  word,  how  to 
speak  it  when  found!"  This  paragraph  is  Carlylese 
throughout  and  indicates  the  presence  of  that  ruling 
passion — to  find  and  utter  the  one  right  truth  of  all 
others. 

Tn  his  diary  kept  at  Craigenputtoch,  he  writes — 

"Tome  there  is  nothing  poetical  in  Scotland  but  its  religion." 
"The  only  inspiration  1  know  of,  is  that  of  genius.     It  was,  ia, 
and  will  always  bo  of  a  divine  character." 


482  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

"  The  Devil  has  his  elect." 

"One  great  desideratum  in  every  society  is,  a  man  to  hold  his 
peace." 

' '  God  is  above  us,  else  the  future  of  the  world  were  well  nigh  des- 
perate.    Go  where  we  may,  the  deep  heaven  will  be  round  us." 

Similar  sayings  from  other  writings  may  be  briefly 
mentioned. 

In  Sartor  Resartus,  he  says — 

' '  Cast  forth  thy  act,  thy  word,  into  the  ever-living,  ever- working 
universe:  it  is  a  seed  grain  that  cannot  die." 

In  the  Latter  Day  Pamphlets,  he  writes — 

"  Contrive  to  have  a  true  opinion,  you  will  get  it  told  in  some  way, 
better  or  worse :  and  it  will  be  a  blessing  to  •  all  creatures.  Have  a 
false  opinion  and  tell  it  with  the  tongue  of  angels,  what  can  that 
profit  ?    The  better  you  tell  it,  the  worse  it  will  be." 

Again — 

"  Contrive  to  talk  well,  you  will  get  to  Heaven,  the  modern 
heaven  of  the  English.  Silence  means  annihilation  for  the  English- 
man of  the  nineteenth  century.     Vox,  is  the  God  of  this  universe." 

In  Past  and  Present,  we  read — 

"  Think  it  not  thy  business,  this  of  knowing  thyself;  thou  art  an 
unknowable  individual;  know  what  thou  canst  work  at  and  work 
at  it  like  a  Hercules." 

And  again, — 

"  It  is  Like  jesting  Pilate,  asking — What  is  Truth?  Jesting  Pilate 
had  not  the  smallest  chance  to  ascertain  what  was  Truth.  He 
could  not  have  known  it,  had  a  god  shown  it  to  him." 

In  these  and  similar  passages  capable  of  large 
multiplication,  there  is  the  evidence  of  a  "  new 
organ  "  of  style — a  special  phase  of  statement,  always 
striking  and,  sometimes,,  startling.      It  is  personality 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        483 

and  peculiarity  combined.     There  is  an  individuality  ^j^ 
here   amounting  to  genius.     The  author  seemed  to  LccmXx 
have  a  kind  of  gift  in  this  direction  whereby  all  that 
he  uttered  was  ratified  at  once  as  his  and  needed  no 
further  witness. 

Readers  must  have  noticed,  at  this  point,  how  ab- 
solutely free  the  author  is  from  reference  or  quotation 
in  any  servile  sense.  His  quotations  are  compara- 
tively rare,  but  when  he  does  use  them  from  his 
favorite  authors,  such  as,  Goethe  and  Richter  and  » 
the  English-  poets,  he  uses  them  independently  and 
as  subordinate  to  his  own  opinion.  Everywhere  he 
is  himself  and  only  so.  His  prose  is  as  clearly  trace- 
able to  its  author  as  is  that  of  Pickwick  to  Dickens, 
or  that  of  the  Rambler,  to  Dr.  Johnson.  There  is 
high  rhetorical  and  literary  merit  in  this  and  it  is 
full  of  suggestion  to  the  ambitious  student.  It  means 
that,  first  of  all,  is  ingenuousness  of  style — the  candid 
expression  of  the  man  on  the  page,  unmoved  by  the 
thousand  influences  that  tend  to  dictate  to  him  just 
how  he  shall  deliver  himself.  "To  thine  own  self  be 
true,"  is  the  word  of  guidance.  "  Be  thyself.  Ex- 
press thyself.  Speak  thy  words  in  thine  own  way 
and  there  will  always  be  listeners." 

Such  originality  of  stylo  is  too  rare  ever  to  pass 
unnoticed. 

(2.)  Cogent. 

This  second  characteristic  of  the  prose  before  us  is 
equally  manifest  and  is,  in  fact,  vitally  connected  with 
the  first.  Other  things  being  equal,  to  be  original  in 
method  is  to  be  potent.  If  "knowledge  is  power," 
creative  genius  is  a  greater  power. 


484  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

i4  In  Oarlyle,"  says  Minto,  "  the  central  and  com- 
manding- emotion  is  power."  It  is  so  in  his  style. 
One  has  to  read  but  a  short  way  in  order  to  see  and 
feel  the  presence  of  personal  force.  Whatever  the 
writing-  is,  or  is  not,  it  is  strong  and  energetic,  taking 
hold  of  the  mind  and  feelings  with  unusual  grasp.  It 
is  suggestive  to  note  how  this  quality  manifests  itself 
in  Carlyle's  prose,  appearing  in  special  measure  in 
special  writings,  such  as — The  French  Eevolution, 
The  Life  of  Cromwell,  and  his  political  pamphlets. 

At  times,  it  takes  the  form  of  sharp  and  pregnant 
antithesis,  equaling  the  skill  of  Bacon  himself  in  the 
line  of  apothegm  and  epigram.  In  his  contrast,  be- 
tween Schiller  and  Alfieri,  there  is  a  fine  example 
of  vigorous  contrast,  reminding  us  of  Junius  and 
Dryden. 

In  his — Death  of  Goethe — he  writes, 

"Let  the  reader  have  seen  before  he  attempts  to  oversee." 
"Under  the  intellectual  union  of  man  and  man,  which  works  by 
precept,  lies  a  holier  unison  of  affection,  working  by  example.     For 
love  is  ever  the  beginning  of  knowledge  as  fire  is  of  light." 

"  This  man  (Goethe)  became  morally  great  by  being  in  his  own 
■   age  what  in  some  other  ages  many  might  have  been — a  genuine 
man.     His  gi'and  excellency  was  this,  that  he  was  genuine." 

So  elsewhere — 

"  The  fearful  unbelief  is  unbelief  in  yourself." 

"  Do  the  dvity  which  liest  nearest  thee.  Thy  second  duty  will 
already  have  become  clearer.  Find  out  your  task;  stand  to  it;  the 
night  <  ometh  when  no  man  can  work." 

At  times,  this  vigor  of  style  takes  the  form  of  an 
intense  passionateness  of  expression  wherein  the  very 
soul  of  the  author  seems  to  be  embodied.     He  illus- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        485 

t rates  in  such  passages  that  gospel  of  activity  which 
he  was  so  constantly  preaching — doing  with  one's 
might  what  one  had  to  do.  He  holds  that  "  the  end 
of*  man  is  action  and  not  thought";  that  every  one 
has  a  mission  and  must  fulfill  it  or  be  false  to  con- 
science. His  style  is  full  of  this  active  principle  by 
which  in  its  effect  it  becomes  impulsive  and  stimula- 
tive. There  is  to  the.  reader  a  quickening  agency  in 
it  so  that  he  is  all  astir  and  alive  to  effort. 

Much  of  the  cogency  of  Carlyle's  prose  comes  from 
a  kind  of  "  rugged  sublimity''  that  is  seen  in  it.  His 
earnestness  takes  an  impassioned  and  fiery  form  and 
often  rises  to  the  region  of  the  heroic,  illustrative  of 
many  of  those  principles  presented  in  his  lectures  on 
Hero  Worship.  Not  infrequently  he  speaks  with  the 
tone  and  commanding  force  of  a  prophet;  in  seri- 
ous and  intrepid  manner  and  demands  audience  and 
assent. 

Carlyle's  admiration  of  Luther  did'  not  stop  at 
mere  admiration.  There  was  in  his  nature  and 
style  that  Lutheran  cogency  by  which  telling  effects 
are  produced.  The  cast  of  the  prose  is,  at  times, 
Hebraic  in  its  moral  sobriety  and  must  be  heeded. 
There  is  nothing  of  the  imbecile  and  vacillating  in 
Carlyle.  What  he  was,  he  was  intensely  and  what 
he  wrote,  he  wrote  from  the  soul  out.  He  believed 
he  had  a  message  to  men  and  he  uttered  it  as  if  lie 
believed  it. 

This  cogency  and  warmth  of  utterance  led  Carlyle, 
at  times,  into  extravagance  of  statement.  When  he 
Rays,  ''that  the  essence  of  all  science  lies  in  the  Philo- 
sophy of  Clothes";  "that  the  ait  of  speech  is  the 
saddest  of  curses,"  lie  speaks  at  random.     II is  state- 


486  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

ments  as  to  the  wild  disorder  of  these  "  latter  days"; 
as  to  the  French  Revolution  and  the  times  of  Crom- 
well; his  forebodings  as  to  the  immediate  future  of 
society  and  law  and  his  frequent  use  of  the  most  ex- 
treme form  of  hyperbole  and  exclamation  are  in  the 
line  of  this  extravagance.  In  these  and  similar  de- 
clarations the  author  must  be  allowed  much  margin 
and  be  followed  with  a  wise  reserve.  Such  cases, 
after  a)  1,  are  exceptional,  and  mark  the  overflow  of 
that  deep  energy  of  feeling  of  which  he  was  the  sub- 
ject and  sometimes  the  servant.  He  had  in  his  soul 
much  of  that  passionateness  of  feeling  which  Burke 
possessed  and  each  alike  gave  violent  vent  thereto 
in  special  emergencies.  Carlyle's  prose  is  energized 
by  this  passion  and  the  reader  is  soon  convinced  that 
he  is  perusing  an  author  whose  language  is  the 
expression  of  his  innermost  self  and  is,  therefore, 
cogent.*  Goethe,  as  quoted  by  Mr.  Fronde,  seems  to 
refer  alike  to  his  force  and  originality  as  lie  says  of 
Carlyle,  "  that  he  was  fortunate  in  having  within 
himself  an  originating  principle  of  conviction  out  of 
which  he  could  develop  the  force  that  lay  in  him." 

(3.)  Versatile  and  Suggestive. 

A  cursory  survey  of  the  writings  of  the  author,  as 
we  have  detailed  them,  will  reveal  something  of  this 
versatility  of  talent  in  the  department  of  English 
Prose  Literature.  We  find  substantially  all  the  great 
forms  of  prose  authorship  represented — History, 
Biography,  Description,  Miscellany,  Criticism,  Di- 
dactic or  Speculative  Prose,  Translations  and  Letters. 
In   these   various  forms  all  the  important  pending 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        487 

questions  of  the  time  are  discussed  as  they  arise  in 
politics,  society,  philosophy  and  practical  life.  It  is 
not  to  be  forgotten  that  in  the  prose  of  Carlyle  we 
are  dealing  with  the  productions  of  an  accomplished 
scholar.  From  the  time  of  his  entrance  into  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  in  his  fifteenth  year,  he 
was  a  student  of  scholarly  habits  and  attainments, 
specially  versed  in  classical  and  scientific  knowledge. 
His  knowledge  of  the  literature  of  Germany  was 
greater  than  that  possessed  by  any  Englishman  of 
his  time  and  accounts  for  that  most  important  work 
which  he  did  in  awakening  on  British  soil  special 
interest  in  Teutonic  Letters. 

As  to  the  reading  of  all  that  was  best  in  home  and 
foreign  literature  he  was  fully  the  equal  of  Macaulay. 
Some  of  his  essays,  especially  those  on  Goethe,  Richter 
and  German  Literature,  will  reveal  to  the  student 
something  of  the  extent  and  variety  of  his  knowledge. 

Carlyle's  prose  reveals  the  fact  that  he  was  out  and 
out  a  lover  of  letters.  He  was  an  author  in  heart, 
and  an  author  by  profession.  He  was  proud  to  be 
called  "a  writer  of  books."  He  believed  with  Fichte, 
"that  the  true  literary  man  is  the  world's  priest,  con- 
tinually upholding  the  Godlike  to  man,"  or  as  he  says 
in  one  of  his  essays,  "Could  ambition  always  choose 
its  own  path,  all  truly  ambitious  men  would  be  men 
of  letters."  It  was  thus  that  he  loved  to  write  and  to 
keep  himself  in  close  relation  by  study  and  reading 
with  all  other  writers  of  ancient  and  modern  note. 

It  is  true,  as  we  are  told,  that  Carlyle  has  his  favor- 
ite topics  which  he  is  never  weary  of  discussing,  and 
where  constant  discussion  seems  somewhat  to  detract 
from   this  quality   of  versatility.     Such   themes  as, 


488  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

Labor,  Democracy,  Heroes  and  Heroism,  The  Ever- 
lasting No  and  Yes,  German  Literature  and  the 
Discords  of  Modern  Times,  he  was  fond  of  presenting 
whenever  opportunity  offered.  The  forms  of  their 
presentation,  however,  were  endlessly  diversified 
while,  as  we  have  seen,  outside  of  these  special  topics, 
his  prose  reveals  what  he  would  call  a  "wide-acred" 
range  on  all  subjects  of  human  interest.  Carlyle 
had  his  intellectual  hobbies.  All  great  writers  have 
had  them.  The  criticism  is  extreme,  however,  which 
insists  that  he  was  thereby  contracted  in  his  area 
and  literary  variety.  A  rapid  perusal  of  the  different 
subjects  which  make  up  the  seven  volumes  of  his 
Miscellaneous  Essays  would  be  sufficient  to  reveal  the 
injustice  of  such  criticism.  Nor  is  there  mere  variety 
of  theme  in  the  prose  of  Carlyle,  but  mental  sugges- 
tiveness  and  stimulus — a  true  intellectual  impulse 
which,  after  all,  is  the  best  benefit  that  one  gets  from 
the  study  of  an  author.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  as 
far  as  Minto  when  he  says,  "  Probably  more  intellec- 
tual force  has  been  spent  upon  the  production  of  Car- 
lyle's  books  than  upon  those  of  any  two  other  writers 
in  general  literature."  It  is  sufficient  to  affirm  here 
that  the  prose  of  Carlyle  is,  in  the  main,  an  intellec- 
tual order  of  prose  and  thus  fruitful  in  suggestion. 
As  it  required  mind  to  produce  it,  it  requires  mind 
appreciatively  to  peruse  it.  It  is  "  mixed  with 
brains,"  as  John  Brown  would  phrase  it.  Though 
Carlyle  was  not  a  metaphysician  in  the  technical 
sense  and  could  not  sit  with  patience  under  the 
teachings  of  Thomas  Brown  at  Edinburgh,  he  was  a 
thinker  and  a  philosophei'.  He  held  that  a  man 
should  be  measured  by  his  intellectual  power.     He 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.       489 

believed  as  Bacon  did  in  "mental  stuff"  and  aimed 
to  compact  in  his  writings  as  much  substance  as  pos- 
sible. No  writer  of  English  has,  at  this  point,  better 
illustrated  the  vital  relation  of  thought  to  style. 
Carlyle's  style  is,  simply  his  thought  in  form.  The 
style  itself  is  intdlleetual.  Hence,  the  explanation  of 
the  fact  that  his  prose  must  be  read  and  read  again,  if 
the  full  benefit  is  to  be  secured.  It  is  a  prose  that  must 
be  pondered  and  studied.  Nor  is  this  because  it  is 
enigmatical  and  complex.  Something  of  this  element 
enters,  as  we  shall  see,  but  in  those  portions  of  his 
writings  that  are  substantially  clear,  the  meaning 
must  often  be  reached  by  patient  re-perusal.  The 
eentences  are  pregnant  with  ideas.  In  many  of  them 
the  thoughts  are  so  closely  packed  that  the  most  in- 
tense and  undivided  attention  is  needed  to  unfold  them. 
Carlyle  was  a  thinker.  He  was  more  of  a  thinker 
than  he  was  a  logician.  He  was  always  coiritatin<r 
and  with  his  eyes  wide  open  to  men  and  things  about 
him,  so  that  when  he  took  his  pen  in  hand  it  was  not 
to  utter  mere  truisms  or  platitudes  but  germinal  ideas 
and  suggestions.  No  one  can  read  him  and  not  be 
intellectually  quickened.  His  prose  is  not  given  us 
as  a  pastime  but  as  a  mental  stimulant.  Whatever 
its  faults  may  be,  it  has  tlie  great  merit  of  being  a 
wide  departure  from  the  sentimental,  ornate  or  merely 
entertaining.     It  is  thoughtful — full  of  thought. 

(4.)  Delineative  and  Graphic. 

This  is  not  as  striking  a  feature  in  any  of  its  phases 
in  Carlyle  as  the  others  already  mentioned.  It  is  too 
prominent,   however,    to   be  overlooked  in   any  just 


490  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

estimate  of  his  style,  especially  manifest  in  the  writ- 
ings of  his  later  years. 

This  descriptive  talent  is  expressed  in  various 
forms.  They  may  be  said  to  be  Historical  Sketching, 
Power  of  Characterization  and  Figurative  Language. 

As  to  the  first  of  these,  abundant  evidence  is  given 
io  his  biographical  and  strictly  historical  works,  most 
especially,  in  The  French  Revolution  and  in  Frederic 
the  Great.  There  are  passages  here,  as  indeed  in 
Cromwell  and  the  Essays,  that  are  worthy  of  the  best 
paragraphs  of  Burke,  De  Quincey  or  Victor  Hugo, 
while  some  critics  have  not  hesitated  to  give  him 
here  the  first  place  in  English  Prose.  His  descrip- 
tion of  the  disorders  that  followed  the  taking  of  the 
Bastile;  of  the  attack  upon  the  palace  at  Versailles; 
of  Louis  XV.  and  his  courtiers;  of  Frederic  and  his 
times;  of  the  execution  of  Raleigh;  of  events  under 
Cromwell ;  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  and  of  natural 
scenery  are  among  the  best  specimens  of  word-paint- 
ing and  seem  for  the  time  to  place  Carlyle  among 
the  prose-poets  of  our  literature. 

In  fact,  Carlyle's  historical  style  was  more  descrip- 
tive than  narrative.  He  did  not  write  history  in 
that  didactic  manner  in  which  Hume  wrote  it  or  as 
Mr.  Fronde  has  written  it,  but  in  a  manner  so  graphic 
and  pictorial  that  it  may  be  said  to  belong  to  delin- 
eative  writing.  As  the  French  would  say,  he  depicts. 
Scenes  take  precedence  of  facts,  and  imagery  of 
reality. 

The  Historv  of  the  French  Revolution,  in  its  three 
great  parts — The  Bastile,  The  Constitution  and  The 
Guillotine — is  the  best  example  of  this  narrative- 
descriptive  style. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.  —  CARLYLE.        491 

In  the  sphere  of  dramatic  representation  or  the 
portraiture  of  character,  he  was  even  more  success- 
ful, beiug  mentioned  by  Minto  and  others  in  the 
same  breath  with  Shakespeare  himself.  There  is 
delineation  here  on  the  dramatic  side  for  which  the 
author  has  fitting  opportunity  in  his  biographical 
and  miscellaneous  papers.  His  Life  of  Sterling  is  a 
model  in  this  respect,  as,  also  his  presentation  of  the 
great  German  Emperor  and  the  great  English  Com- 
moner. His  depiction  of  the  Eevolution  of  1848;  of 
the  growth  and  working  of  the  democratic  element 
in  government;  of  the  right  of  franchise;  of  the 
presumption  of  aristocracy;  of  the  inmates  of  the 
"Model  Prisons";  of  The  Soldiers  of  Literature  in 
The  Republic  of  Letters  and  of  the  Heroic  in  History 
is  of  this  dramatic  order  of  description.  There  is  a 
decided  histrionic  talent  manifest  here  which  seems 
alike  to  show  the  breadth  of  the  author's  power  and 
to  infuse  into  his  prose  the  element  of  poetic  interest. 

As  to  figurative  language,  a  large  amount  of  this 
might  naturally  be  expected  in  such  a  writer  as 
Carlyle.  On  the  basis  of  that  originality,  passionate 
energy  and  versatility  referred  to,  this  symbolic 
feature  would  rest.  Such  a  mind  could  not  abide  as 
a  writer,  within  the  narrow  limits  of  literal  usage, 
but  must  accept  the  privilege  of  poetic  license  ac- 
corded it  in  the  use  of  the  pictorial.  He  was  a  man 
in  whom  imagination  had  its  full  place  and  did  its 
full  work.  The  speculative  tendencies  of  his  mind 
led  him  toward  the  romantic  and  figurative.  It  was 
Carlyle  himself  who  held  the  view  so  often  quoted, 
that  metaphors  make  up  the  largest  part  of  language 
and  that  he  acted  unwisely  who  ignored  this  funda- 


492  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

mental  fact.  He  called  them  "  its  nucleus  and  tis- 
sues." In  historical  description  and  in  characteriza- 
tion he  freely  used  them,  while  in  all  his  writings 
they  enter  as  a  radical  element.  Even  where  they 
are  somewhat  overwrought  and  rugged,  they  answer 
his  purpose  of  giving  increasing  force  and  vividness 
to  the  meaning  behind  them.  He  used  them  more 
for  effect  than  for  ornament. 

In  his  speculative  writings — Sartor  Resartus,  Lat- 
ter Day  Pamphlets  and  Past  and  Present,  his  figures 
are  often  of  this  character. 

"  Unanimity  of  voting — that  will  do  nothing  for  us.  Your  ship 
cannot  double  Gape  Horn  by  its  excellent  plans  of  voting.  The  ship 
to  get  around  Cape  Horn,  will  find  a  set  of  conditions  already  voted 
for  and  fixed  by  the  ancient  Elemental  Powers,  who  are  careless 
how  you  vote." 

Again. — 

"A certain  people,  once  upon  a  time,  clamorously  voted  'Not 
He ;  Barabbas,  not  He  !  '  Well !  they  got  Barabbas :  and  they  got 
of  course,  such  guidance  as  Barabbas  could  give  them:  and,  of 
course,  they  stumbled  ever  downwards  and  devilwards  in  their 
stiff-necked  way." 

His  description  of  the  possible  future  of  the  Amer- 
ican Republic  is  of  this  order  as  he  says — 

'« Cease  to  brag  to  me  of  America— its  model  institutions  and  con- 
stitutions. America's  battle  is  yet  to  fight.  New  spiritual  Pythons, 
plenty  of  them,  loom  huge  and  hideous  out  of  the  twilight  future. 
Brag  not  yet  of  our  American  cousins.  What  have  they  done? 
Doubled  their  population  every  few  years  !  " 

This  is  certainly  figurative  and  on  the  rough-and- 
ready  side. 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        493 

Tt  is  the  same  original  Carlyle,  talking  as  it  suits 
him  and  aiming  to  hit.  With  all  its  ruggedness,  it 
lias  power.  So  inclined  is  he  to  this  departure  from 
literal  use  that  the  figurative  often  takes  the  place 
of  the  real.  Personifications  become  persons.  Dry- 
asdust and  Herr  Teufelsdruckh  live  and  have  being. 
He  dealt  largely  in  Hyperbole,  Interrogation,  Antith- 
esis and  Apostrophe,  using  figures  in  the  line  of 
boldness  rather  than  beauty.  In  his  essays,  especially, 
his  metaphors  are  more  subdued  and  chaste.  In  such 
articles  as  those  on  Burns  and  Richter,  hies  prose  reads 
more  like  that  of  De  Quincey  or  Macaulay,  while 
even  in  the  historical  writings,  the  deviations  from 
propriety  are  not  marked.  His  contrast  by  figure  in 
his  Essay  on  Voltaire  between  the  haughty  Tamer- 
laine  and  the  humble  Johannes  Faust;  the  contrast 
between  the  joy  and  the  closing  sadness  of  the  life 
of  Marie  Antoinette;  the  metaphysical  description 
of  the  most  striking  scenes  and  personages  of  the 
French  Revolution,  are  all  in  the  line  of  high  graphic 
anil.  In  the  use  of  figure  for  purposes  of  embellish- 
ment, he  had  many  superiors.  In  their  use  for  bold 
and  blunt  delineation,  he  had  none. 

(5.)  Caustic  and  Acute. 

Carlyle  has  been  called  "The  Censor  of  his  Age." 
He  was  so  by  self-appointment  and  was  devoted  to 
his  work.  He  was  fonder  of  nothing  than  of  censor- 
ship as  it  applied  to  men.  manners,  institutions  and 
policies.  If  the  basis  of  this  is  said  to  be  a  profound 
Egoism,  be  it  so.  Carlyle  did  believe  thoroughly  in 
himself     This   was   his   weakness  and  his  strength 


494  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

and  it  led  him  to  the  office  of  judgeship.  He  was 
"  nothing  if  not  critical,"  and  as  wit,  when  made  an 
end  in  itself  degenerates  into  buffoonery,  criticism 
when  pursued  for  the  love  of  it  and  on  the  ground  of 
personal  infallibility,  degenerates  into  cynicism  and 
caustic  irony.  Carlyle's  very  humor  was  satirical. 
It  was  a  "prickly  sarcasm."  It  flayed  and  scorched 
the  victim.  It  had  but  little  of  that  humanity  in  it 
which  marks  the  pleasantry  of  Lamb  and  Dickens. 
At  this  point,  in  his  style,  the  author  is  the  true  suc- 
cessor of  Dean  Swift  and  the  English  representative 
of  Voltaire.  He  had  a  thought  to  express  and  a  fault 
to  rebuke,  and  if  the  process  was  painful  to  the  sub- 
ject of  the  rebuke,  so  much  the  worse  for  the  subject. 

The  reference,  here,  is  to  the  main  drift  of  Car- 
lyle's prose  as  ironical  and  humorous.  He  was  not 
altogether  devoid  of  tenderness  as  his  Essay  on 
Burns    and    his    writings    on    human     life, — evince. 

Even  his  humor  is,  at  times,  playful  and  light- 
hearted  as  in  his  thoughts  on — The  Tramp  Orator 
■ — The   World   in  Clothes  and  Tailors. 

In  the  main,  however,  he  indulges  in  the  cynical 
and  derisive.  He  sees  the  ludicrous  side  of  things 
as  Swift  saw  them  in  Gulliver's  Travels,  or  Butler, 
in  Hudibras,  or  Pope,  in  The  Dunciad,  and  deals 
with  it  in  the  same  unmerciful  way  and  with  even 
stronger  grasp.  He  loves  invective  and  assumes  at 
once  the  polemic  attitude.  While  h  -  says  of  Amer- 
ica "that  it  would  ill  bese  m  any  Ei.glishman  to 
speak  unkindly  "  of  it,  he  adds — "They  have  begot- 
ten eighteen  millions  of  the  greatest  bores  ever  seen 
in  this  world." 

The  main  explanation  of  this   bitter  element  in 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        495 

Carlyle's  prose,  is  his  innate  and  ever  deepening 
hatred  of  what  he  called  "  Shams,  TJnveraeities  and 
Phantasms."  Whenever  he  thought  of  them  or  saw 
them,  his  soul  was  stirred  as  was  Burke's  in  the 
view  of  Hastings'  crimes  in  India.  He  had  what  he 
would  call  a  righteous  indignation  against  pretense 
and  deemed  it  God's  work  to  rebuke  it. 

So  prevalent  was  this  in  the  world  and  so  deep- 
rooted,  that  he  thought  it  folly  to  attack  it  mildly. 
Innuendo  and  allusion  must  take  the  form  of  sarcasm, 
and  wit  must  become  scorn  and  vituperation. 

There  is  good  and  evil  in  this.  It  makes  the  au- 
thor's prose  crisp,  pungent  and  positive,  while  it  also 
serves  to  keep  it  down  to  the  lower  level  of  personal 
reference  and  reproach.  While  it  adds  to  that  orig- 
inality and  cogency  that  mark  his  prose,  it  also  adds 
to  that  quality  of  ruggedness  and  crudeness  which 
we  have  yet  to  note. 

Whatever  the  subject  he  had  in  hand,  whether 
history,  criticism  or  essay,  he  was  ever  on  the  watch 
for  the  presence  of  that  demon  of  imposture  which 
he  believed  to  be  the  worst  spirit  on  the  earth  and 
which  he  was  determined  to  oppose.  Carlyle's  prose, 
in  this  respect,  takes  its  place  among  the  satires.  It 
reads  as  Junius  and  Aristophanes  read.  It  is  a  pro- 
test throughout  against  imagined  wrong  and  with 
all  its  faults  is  sincere  and  effective. 

CHARACTERISTIC   DEFECTS. 

(1.)  Unfinished. 

We  use  the  word  here  in  its  figurative  sense,  as 
indicating  want  of  grace  and  beauty.     In  no  stand- 


496  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

ard  English  prose  is  the  absence  of  this  more  marked. 
There  is  no  writer  who  so  openly  discarded  all  at- 
tempt at  form.  The  main  thing  with  him,  and  in 
fact,  the  only  thing  was  the  idea.  That  he  must 
express  at  all  hazards.  If  the  form  of  it  pleased 
others,  well;  if  not,  equally  well.  It  always  pleased 
him  for  he  had  no  choice. 

He  would  pass  from  the  sublime  to  the  grotesque 
with  no  thought  of  inconsistency.  His  rugged  En- 
glish was  not  rugged  to  him  for  it  conveyed  his 
meaning.  He  would  not  concede  that  there  was  any 
such  thing  as  grace  or  finish  of  style  as  elements  of 
literary  art.  If  told  that  his  descriptions  were  often 
coarse  and  his  figures  crude  and  harsh,  he  would 
answer — Do  they  not  express  the  idea?  If  so,  they 
are  in  order  and  in  taste.  He  was,  in  fine,  a  law  unto 
himself  here  as  everywhere — the  same  original  and 
self-sufficing  Carlyle.  There  are  indications,  at  times, 
that  Carlyle  did  not  ignore  literary  art.  In  some  of 
his  best  works,  the  utmost  pains  seem  to  have  been 
taken.  He  urges  authors  to  write  slowly;  to  com- 
press much  meaning  in  a  small  compass;  to  write 
prose  rather  than  poetry;  and  he  endorsed,  by  his 
own  example,  the  value  of  care  as  to  details.  Still, 
art  for  art's  sake,  he  despised,  and  naturally  went  to 
the  extreme  of  gracelessness.  His  very  originality 
and  cogency  were  without  finish.  His  words,  sen- 
tences, figures  and  general  style  are  devoid  of 
neatness. 

The  reader  must  look  elsewhere  for  "The  Ameni- 
ties of  Literature."  Milton,  Johnson,  Hooker,  Bacon 
and  Burke  were  deficient  here,  but  not  as  Carlyle  is. 
His  prose  is  as  unartistic  and  unsesthetic  as  it  well 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        497 

can  be  and  be  as  good  as  it  is.  In  this,  Carlvle  is  at 
fault  and  must  himself  be  judged  and  condemned. 
No  standard  writer  can  afford  to  decry  literary  taste 
and  g;aoe.  It  has  a  place  in  all  true  authorship  and 
will,  in  some  way,  avenge  its  neglect.  Carlyle's 
prose  has  fundamental  merits  and  will  be  read,  but 
not  by  numbers  of  those  who  would  be  attracted  to 
its  pages  were  its  external  form  such  as  that  of 
Thomas  De  Quincey's. 

(2.)  irregular. 

This  is,  in  some  respects,  the  main  error  in  the 
style  of  our  author.  Nor  is  the  reference  here,  to 
that  of  quaintness  and  eccentricity,  of  which  we 
spoke  in  connection  with  the  quality  of  originality. 
It  is  an  irregularity  of  style  for  which  there  is  no 
just  warrant  and  which,  in  so  far  as  it  is  found,  im- 
pairs both  the  clearness  and  the  force  of  the  writing. 
There  are  various  ways  in  which  this  departure  from 
established  principles  manifests  itself. 

It  appears,  first  of  all,  logically. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  fact  that  Carlyle 
was  a  thinker  rather  than  a  reasoner.  This  state- 
ment applies  at  this  point.  His  reflections  were  far 
safer  than  his  mental  processes  and  conclusions.  He 
inclined  to  that  form  of  argument  which  is  found  in 
mathematics,  and  as  such,  is  based  on  axioms  and  is 
demonstrative.  In  the  sphere  of  probable  evidence, 
he  was  far  weaker. 

The  special  manner  in  which  this  fault  indicates 
itself  in  Carlyle's  literary  prose  is,  in  the  want  of 
logical  nexus — that  orderly  sequence  of  thought  which 


498  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

secures  unity  and  symmetry  and  the  best  effect. 
Just  here  he  failed  where  De  Quincey  succeeded. 
Readers  will  note  in  much  of  his  prose  the  frequent 
recurrence  of  abrupt  transition— a  certain  looseness 
of  adjustment  of  part  to  part.  From  early  educa- 
tional life  at  Edinburgh,  he  had  but  little  taste  for 
logic.  His  mind  revolted  at  what  is  called  by  the 
schools — analysis — so  that  he  generally  fails  when  he 
attempts  to  apply  it.  In  such  works  as — Sartor,  Past 
and  Present  and  Latter  Day  Pamphlets,  most  of  the 
themes  discussed  are  mere  hooks  on  which  to  hang 
the  thought  rather  than  germinal  topics  out  of  which 
the  subject  is  gradually  evolved.  In  the  discussion 
itself  he  preferred  the  discursive  and  desultory  meth- 
od to  that  of  a  sharply  defined  and  progressive  line 
of  argument.  In  a  word*  he  was  irregular  here  rather 
than  regular.  He  failed  to  follow  those  pre-estab- 
lished methods  which  the  careful  writer  is  bound  to 
respect.  And  if  it  be  said,  that  he  gained  much  by 
this  independent  waywardness,  in  the  line  of  freedom 
and  side,  suggestion,  it  is  also  to  be  noted  that  he  lost 
that  mo.  t  important  element  of  style  which  may  be 
called,  logical,— the  element  of  connection,  sequence 
and  climax. 

This  irregularity  is,  also,  grammatical.  We  refer 
here,  mainly,  to  structure  and  syntactical  relation. 
It  would  not  be  correct  to  say  of  Carlyle's  prose 
as  he  says  of  Werner's,  "It  is  contorted  into  end- 
less involutions  and  well-nigh  inexplicable  in  its 
entanglements,"  but  there  is  much,  at  this  point, 
to  which  the  impartial  critic  must  take  exception. 
It  is  difficult  to  see  how  Mr.  Minto  can  assert,  on 
one  page,    as   to    his   sentences    "  that  they    are  ex- 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.—  CARLYLE.       499 

tremely  simple  in  construction,"  and  on  another, 
"  that  they  are  faulty,  in  that  they  depart  from  the 
ordinary  structure  of  written  composition."  He  uses 
the  incorrect  loose  sentence  as  freely  as  Macaulay 
uses  the  periodic  or  Dryden,  the  antithetical.  His 
parentheses  are  frequent  and  often  involved,  while  as 
to  the  ordinary  distinctions  supposed  to  exist  among 
the  different  parts  of  speech,  he  takes  but  little  ac- 
count. Often  in  reading  Carlyle's  prose,  one  is  re- 
minded of  the  transitional  English  of  Elizabethan 
days.  His  grammar  seems  to  be  unsettled,  and  he 
passes  freely  from  one  form  to  another  as  if  all  were 
alike  in  vogue.  We  note  such  peculiarities  as  the 
following: 

"  He  is  to  know  of  a  truth  that  being  miserable  he  has  been  un- 
wise, he." 

"  The  sum  of  it,  visible  in  every  market-place,  fills  one  ndl  with  a 
comic  ; 

He  uses  such  superlative  forms  as,  prccisest,  piti- 
fullest,   r  lest,  totalest,    and   remarkablest.     Such 

exceptional  usages  as  these  are  not  to  be  referred  to 
eccentricity  as  much  as  to  positive  violation,  of  idiom 
and  formation.  In  so  far  as  they  exist,  they  seem  to 
carry  the  prose  back  to  the  Middle-English  Period 
and  detract,  therefore,  from  its  influence  in  modern 
times. 

Undoubtedly,  something  of  error,  here  is  due  to 
Carlyle's  proficiency  in  German  and  his  fondness 
for  it.  He  made  no  effort  to  give  precedence  to  the 
English  when  the  two  languages  conflicted  as  to  any 
particular  usage  In  speaking  of  the  style  of  Teufels- 
druckh,  lie  writes — "Of  his  sentences,  perhaps  not 
more  than  nine-tenths  stand  straight  on  their  legs. 


500  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

The  remainder  are  buttressed  up  by  props  (of  paren- 
theses) and  dashes."  This  language  is,  in  a  sense, 
autobiographical.  While  in  the  author's  prose,  and 
especially  in  his  essays  and  biographies,  numerous 
examples  may  be  found  of  faultless  grammatical 
structure,  error  here,  is  far  too  frequent  in  a  writer 
whose  merits  are  so  conspicuous. 

It  is,  however,  when  we  come  to  study  style  verbal- 
ly, that  Carlyle's  irregularity  is  most  apparent.  Here 
the  violation  of  precedent  and  principle  amounts  to  a 
literary  offense.  There  is  much  written  at  present 
on — The  English  of  Carlyle.  where  the  reference  is  to 
his  diction.  It  may  be  said  to  be  an  open  question 
and  not  a  few  are  found  who  are  eager  to  defend, 
at  all  hazards,  our  author's  phraseology. 

It  is  admitted  that  it  is  peculiar,  often  harsh  and 
mixed  and  often  so  aside  from  usage  as  to  be  unin- 
telligible. Still,  we  are  told,  it  is  Carlylese  and  there- 
fore, admissible;  that  it  manifests  the  man  in  his  in- 
dividuality; that  he  eannot  be  expected  to  write 
English  as  Bunyan  or  as  Swift  did,  or  even  as  Dr. 
Johnson  did.  In  a  word,  the  originality  is  admitted 
but  condoned  on  the  ground  of  personal  peculiarities. 
This  principle  is  certainly  unsafe  as  a  general  test, 
and  in  the  case  before  us  leads  us  often  to  justify 
what  cannot  be  commended.  The  reference  here,  is 
not  to  the  extent  of  his  vocabulary.  This  was  as 
wide  as  his  reading  and  equal  to  that  of  any  con- 
temporaneous writer.  Especially  in  the  description 
of  character  and  in  the  sphere  of  technical  terms,  his 
verbal  wealth  was  unbounded.  We  speak  of  the 
quality  of  his  diction  when  we  call  it  in  many  cases, 
outlandish  and  unmeaning.      It  is  not  that  he  always 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        501 

uses  foreign  words  in  preference  to  Saxon,  for  this  is 
not  the  case;  nor  is  it  that  he  uses  words  which  when 
used  may  seemed  somewhat  odd,  but  to  which  we  be- 
come reconciled  because  of  their  final  fitness  and 
force.  It  is  in  the  use  of  terms  obsolete  and  obsolescent 
that  he  seems  to  revel  and  which,  if  allowable,  would 
not  be  the  best.  In  such  a  sentence  as  this — "  Turn 
away  from  their  lacquered  sumptuosities,  their  be- 
lauded sophistries,  their  serpent  graciosities  " — how- 
ever admissible  the  words  may  be,  they  are  not  the 
best. 

Pages  of  words  might  be  culled  from  Carlyle  for 
which  no  apology  can  be  made  save  that  they  are  his. 
A  few  examples  will  suffice: 


disimprisoned,  vehiculatory, 

elsewhither,  antecessors,  \ 

astucity,  maleficent, 

to  vilipend,  vestnral, 

dislikable,  complected, 

dubiety,  stertorious, 

fuigiously,  misresults. 


Here  is  something  more  than  personality  of  style. 
It  is  a  species  of  verbal  irregularity  which  is  not 
venial.  It  tends  to  nullify  the  good  influences  of 
those  high  qualities  to  which  attention  has  been 
called,  and  to  make  language  according  to  Talley- 
rand, "the  art  of  concealing  thought." 

There  is  far  too  much  of  this  logical,  grammatical 
and  verbal  loosenessin  Carlyle.  Even  with  his  great 
individuality  behind  it,  it  has  not  escaped  deserved 
rebuke.  If  the  author  had  written  when  Bacon  or 
Milton  wrote  or  even  at  the  time  of  Addison,  more 


502  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

excuse  might  have  been  offered,  but  an  author  liv- 
ing in  the  nineteenth  century  can  scarcely  be  for- 
given for  using  the  diction  of  the  sixteenth  or  worse 
than  that,  for  using  a  diction  objectionable  at  any 
era.  Carlyle  is  never  weary  of  allusion  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  Goldsmith  and  Burns.  He  could  have 
learned  much  from  either  of  them  in  the  line  of 
verbal  plainness. 

(3.)  Mystical. 

Next  to  the  feature  of  originality,  this  may  be  said 
to  be  the  most  salient  characteristic  of  our  author's 
style.  It  is,  also,  the  most  radical  fault.  It  might  be 
called  mythical  and  the  one  for  which  Jeffrey  is  con- 
stantly reproving  him.  The  reference  here,  is  to  a 
kind  of  haze  or  shadowiness  hanging  over  the  thought 
and  expression.  It  is  especially  noticeable  in  those 
productions  that  are  speculative  but  it  is  not  confined 
to  these.  That  long  and  valuable  correspondence 
which  he  carried  on  with  Emerson  is  full  of  it,  as 
also,  are  his  essays  and  even  histories.  At  no  point  are 
Carlyle  and  Emerson  more  at  one  than  here  in  this 
transcendental  atmosphere  looking  at  the  partially 
revealed  forms  of  truth  and  surmising  the  rest.  In 
chapter  tenth,  of  Sartor  Resartus,  the  author  speaks 
in  suggestive  language  of  his  hero — "  His  grand 
peculiarity  is,  that  with  all  this  Decendentalism, 
he  combines  a  Transcendentalism  no  less  superla- 
tive." Such  tendency  to  Mystification  is  every- 
where traceable.  Nothing  that  he  sees  but  has 
two  meanings.  "  There  is  this  old  Platonic  element 
visible  throughout — something  of  the  'Sphinx'  in  it 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        503 

all."  He  contended  for  the  principle  in  style  that 
the  meaning  of  an  author  should  not  be  seen  at  once. 
In  many  cases,  in  his  own  prose,  it  is  not  seen  at  all. 

Though  it  would  not  be  improper  to  call  Carlyle 
an  ethical  writer,  who  can  gather  from  his  writings 
an}*  well  defined  code  of  ethics  ? 

Though  he  is  ever  discoursing  on  government, 
social  order  and  feasible  public  policies,  who  can 
reduce  these  suggestions  to  a  practicable  system  ? 
Emigration  and  education  are  the  catch-words,  but 
just  what  is  meant  is  doubtful.  In  Chartism  and 
similar  pamphlets,  it  is  difficult  to  find  solid  ground 
on  which  to  stand. 

In  fine,  there  is  much  here  that  is  visionary  and 
chimerical — a  kind  of  weirdness  that  attracts  and 
bewitches  and'  that  is  all.  Sometimes,  the  author 
reaches  the  sphere  of  rhapsody  and  all  is  fantastic 
and  airy. 

Hence,  the  phrase  and  names  so  frequent  in  his 
prose,  as — The  Destinies,  The  Eternal  Melodies,  The 
Eternities,  The  Divine  Silence,  The  Sphere  Harmo- 
nies, The  Necessities,  The  Eternal  Forces.  So  far  as 
this  goes,  it  is  unreal  and  illusory  and  belongs  much 
more  to  the  region  of  poetry  than  to  that  of  solid 
prose. 

Carlyle  could  not  have  corrected  this  had  he  wished 
or  striven.  It  was  in  him  as  an  elemental  part  of 
the  man  while  his  home  "in  the  loveliest  nook  in 
Britain,"  and  his  strange  career  only  intensified  it. 

lie  was  111*  "  Seer  of  Chelsea."  He  "saw  visions 
and  dreamed  dreams,"  and  even  when  he  wrote  on 
events  transacting  right  before  him,  he  looked  at 
them  from  the  heights  above. 


504  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

The  result  of  this  element  as  far  as  it  had  influence 
was  to  make  it  impossible  for  Carlyle  to  be  an  abso- 
lutely clear  writer  as  he  himself  confesses:  "  Mystical 
in  most  cases  will  turn  out  to  be  merely  synonymous 
with — not  understood." 

That  irregularity  of  which  we  have  spoken  would 
contribute  to  this  obscurity,  but  mysticism  still  more 
so.  In  his  Life  of  Sterling  he  says,—"  I  have  heard 
Coleridge  talk  two  stricken  hours  and  communicate 
no  meaning  whatever."  The  remark  is  not  inappli- 
cable to  Carlyle.  He  often  defies  all  attempt  to  un- 
derstand him  and  often  compels  the  reader  to  unwil- 
ling study  to  determine  the  sense.  In  his  Essay 
on  German  Literature,  he  refers  to  the  two  great 
faults  with  which  the  German  authors  have  been 
charged— Bad  Taste  and  Mysticism.  The  first  charge 
he  denies.  The  second,  he  admits  and  defends 
even  though  he  defines  Mystics  to  be  "  men  who 
either  know  not  clearly  their  own  meaning,  or  at 
least,  cannot  put  it  forth  in  formulas  whereby  others 
may  apprehend  it." 

Here  again,  German  influence  deepened  what  was 
already  in  the  man. 

It  is  necessary  to  add  here,  that  this  feature  in 
Carlyle  and  his  prose  expressed  itself,  at  times,  in  the 
morbid  and  despondent.  What  a  doleful  tone  pervades 
some  of  his  work!  In  The  French  Revolution  and  in 
Cromwell,  this  is  apparent  as,  also,  in  his  political 
papers,  while  in  such  works  as  are  speculative  this 
tone  controls.  This  explains  his  devotion  to  the 
name  and  writings  of  Goethe.  It  is  not,  strange  that 
he  translated  Wilhelm  Meister  and  reveled  in  such 
works  as  Faust  and  The  Sorrows  of  Werther.     They 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS. — CARLYLE.        505 

ministered  directly  to  his  mystical  tendencies  and  on 
their  morbid  side.  His  very  portraits  are  noted  for 
this  settled  sadness.  There  is  not  a  little  of  the  pes- 
simistic in  it  all.  The  secret  of  the  difficulty  lay 
in  the  fact  that  while  the  great  problem  of  human 
life  and  destiny  was  the  one  problem  he  aimed  to 
solve,  the  method  of  its  solution  was  totally  wrong 
as  he  applied  it  and,  thus,  but  added  to  the  mental 
disquietude  already  existing. 

To  this  extent,  the  prose  of  Carlyle  is  not  only 
obscure,  it  is  unhealth/ul  in  its  influence.  Instead  of 
that  clear  view  of  common  life  that  marks  the  prose 
of  Bacon,  Addison  and  Burke  there  is  a  misty,  half 
intelligible  and  sombre  view  which  more  befits  the 
monastery  than  the  world  without.  Carlyle  has 
great  merits,  but  at  this  point  he  is  an  unsafe  guide 
in  style.  Less  and  not  more  of  the  visionary  is  what 
is  needed.  In  the  historical  and  literaiy  progress  of 
English  Prose,  that  authorship  will  meet  with  great- 
est favor  which  is  hopeful  in  tone  and  which  may 
be  understood  at  sight. 

In  our  study  of  Carlyle,  one  topic  of  interest  re- 
mains to  be  noticed — we  refer  to — 

His  Character  as  a  Critic. 

There  is  room  here  for  great  diversity  of  view. 
There  were  elements  both  of  mind  and  character  in 
Carlyle  which  fitted  him  for  successful  critical  work, 
while  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  also  possessed  char- 
acteristics which,  as  certainly,  unfitted  him  for  such 
work. 

As  to  his  qualifications,  it  may  be  said  that  he  wa? 
a  man  who  thought  for  himself  mi  ;ill  subjects  that 


50G  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

might  come  before  him  and  to  this  extent  would 
certainly  pass  judgment  in  the  words  of  no  other. 
Whatever  his  verdict  was  as  to  a  man  or  work,  it 
was  his  own.  He  was  an  independent  critic  as  well 
as  an  independent  writer.  He  had  the  courage  to 
speak  what  he  believed,  and  as  far  as  he  knew  his 
own  mind  and  motive,  he  decided  always  in  the  in- 
terest of  truth. 

He  possessed  in  rare  measure  a  further  qualification 
for  this  work  in  his  character  as  a  man  of  letters.  As 
we  have  seen,  he  was  an  author  by  profession  and  by 
practice.  Whatever  the  early  tendencies  of  his  life 
may  have  been  in  the  direction  of  the  law  and  the 
ministry  or  in  that  of  educational  work,  he  soon 
found  that  his  tastes  and  talents  were  in  the  line  of 
literature.  To  that  he  devoted  himself  with  his  char- 
acteristic zeal  holding  strictly  to  the  view,  that  what- 
ever a  man  does  he  should  do  wholly.  He  magnified 
the  work  of  authorship.  He  knew  the  trials  and  en- 
couragements of  authors.  His  own  experience  had 
been  varied  enough  to  incline  him  fully  to  sympathize 
with  those  who  made  literature  their  life-calling. 
Still  further,  his  range  of  reading  was  such  as  to 
acquaint  him  with  the  "  best  that  had  been  thought 
and  said."  Pie  was  thoroughly  versed  in  classical 
lore;  was  a  proficient  in  German,  and  to  some  extent, 
in  South  European  authorship;  knew  the  literary  men 
and  books  of  England  as  well  as  he  knew  his  na- 
tive language,  and  was  thus  able  to  judge  of  any 
given  production  in  the  light  of  all  that  had  been 
produced. 

In  addition  to  all  this  it  may  be  said  that  he  seems 
to  have  had  as  a  critic,  right  views  in  the  main  as  to 


REPRESENTA  TIVE    WRITERS  —CARL  YLE.        507 

the  laws,  standards  and  methods  of  criticism.  Some 
of  these  he  states  in  connection  with  his  critical 
opinions.      In  one  of  his  Miscellanies  he  writes: 

"Criticism,  it  is  sometimes  thought,  should  be  a  cold  business. 
We  are  not  sure  of  this." 

Referring  to  the  crude  opinions  passed  on  Faust 
and  Wilhelin  Meister,  he  says  : 

' '  We  have  heard  few  English  criticisms  of  such  works,  in  which 
the  first  condition  of  an  approach  to  accuracy  was  complied  with — 
a  transposition  of  the  critic  into  the  author's  point  of  vision,  a  sur- 
vey of  the  author's  means  and  objects,  and  a  just  trial  of  these  by 
rules  of  universal  application." 

Speaking  of  the  advanced  state  of  literary  criticism 
in  Germany,  he  writes — 

"The  grand  question  is  not  now  a  question  concerning  the 
qualities  of  diction,  the  coherence  of  metaphors  and  the  fitness  of 
sentiments,  but  a  question  on  the  essence  and  peculiar  life  of  the 
poetry  itself.  The  problem  is  not  now  to  determine  by  what  mech- 
anism Addison  composed  sentences  and  similitudes,  but  by  what 
far  finer  and  more  mysterious  mechanism  Shakespeare  organized  his 
dramas  and  gave  life  and  individuality  to  his  Hamlet.  Criticism 
stands  like  an  interpreter  between  the  inspired  and  the  uninspired 
to  clear  our  sense  that  it  may  discern  the  fine  brightness  of  this  ele- 
ment of  beauty." 

Pages  of  such  high  teaching  as  this  may  be  gath- 
ered from  the  prose  of  Carlyle.  He  utterly  con- 
demned the  artificial  methods  of  Pope  and  Blair; 
of  Boileau  and  the  French  school;  and  exalted  into 
prominence  the  principle  of  the  German  critics  who, 
though  somewhat  decrying  elegance  of  finish,  saw 
into  the  real  essence  of  a  work  of  art  and  exposed  its 


508  ENGLTSH  PROSE. 


merits  or  demerits.  From  his  Essav  on  German  Lit- 
erature,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  a  full  and  philosophic 
theory  of  literary  criticism  might  be  deduced  as  he 
conceived  it,  verbally  phrased  it,  and  aimed  to 
apply  it. 

In  so  far  as  the  theory  and  final  aim  of  criticism 
are  concerned,  therefore,  Carlyle's  prose  reveals  the 
truth.  The  theory  was  philosophical  and  the  aim 
was  the  highest  good  of  English  and  European  let- 
ters. If  we  inquire  as  to  how  Carlyle  carried  out  his 
own  views,  the  difficulty  begins.  Partially,  at  least, 
he  succeeded  in  applying  them.  We  are  not  speak- 
ing, now,  of  his  strictly  political  productions  or  even 
of  those  where  the  historical  element  is  lost  in  the 
political.  The  reference  is  to  his  purely  literary 
judgment  on  authors  and  books.  In  this,  he  partially 
succeeded,  as  in  his  view  of  Coleridge,  given  in — 
The  Life  of  Sterling;  in  his  judgments  on  Burns,  Vol- 
taire, Heyne,  Richter  and  Schiller,  as  given  in  his 
essays;  in  his  general  views  on  History,  on  Euro- 
pean Literature,  and  on  German  Literature  in  itself 
and  as  related  to  English;  in  the  main,  in  his  decis- 
sions  on  Goethe,  his  place  and  work;  and  in  his  views 
of  English  writers,  such  as  Goldsmith,  and  especially, 
Shakespeare. 

Special  instances  of  his  critical  correctness  may  be 
given.  His  Essay  on  Burns  is  sympathic  and  discern- 
ing throughout.     In   the  course  of  it,   he  remarks: 

"To  the  ill-starred  Burns  was  given. the  power  of  making  man's 
life  more  unerrable,  but  that  of  wisely  guiding  his  own  life  was  not 
given .  The  excellence  of  Burns  is,  his  sincerity.  In  his  greatness 
and  his  littleness,  he  is  ever  clear,  simple  and  true." 

Again, — 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS— CARLYLE.        5U9 

"Independently  of  the  essential  gift  of  poetic  feeling,  a  certain 
rugged,  sterling  worth  pervades  whatever  Burns  has  written.  No 
poet  is  more  graphic.     Three  hues,  and  we  have  a  likeness." 

How  aptly  he  hits  the  Frenchman  right  on  the 
head  when  he  says  of  Voltaire — 

"The  chief  quality  is  adroitness." 

Further, 

"There  is  one  deficiency  in  Voltaire's  original  structure -his 
inborn  levity  of  nature,  his  entire  want  of  earnestness.  We  find  no 
heroism  of  character  in  him  from  first  to  last." 

He  speaks  of  his  expertness,  facility,  wit,  in  the 
shape  of  cynical  ridicule;  contrasts  him  in  his  de- 
ceiving brilliancy  with  the  great  and  gifted  Shake- 
speare of  England,  and  is  not  content  to  leave  him 
till  he  rebukes  him  for  ever  having  written  on 
Christianity  without  the  slightest  practical  know- 
ledge of  its  nature. 

On  the  whole,  however,  Carlyle's  prose  reveals  the 
want  of  keen,  clear,  impartial  and  comprehensive 
power  as  a  literary  critic.  There  were  reasons,  also 
for  this.  Dyspepsia  and  poverty  and  misinterpreta- 
tion did  much  to  embitter  his  nature  and  unfit  him 
for  ingenuous  judgment  of  others.  His  want  of  aes- 
thetic taste  increased  the  inability.  He  had  not  that 
full-orbed  and  sensitive  eye  which  comes  only 
through  the  medium  of  the  artistic.  This  need  is 
especially  manifest  in  the  sphere  of  poetry. 

That,  logical,  grammatical  and  verbal  irregularity 
of  which  we  hav  •  spoken  is  a  further  ground,  to 
which  may  be  added  that  mystical  element  by  reason 


510  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

of  which  a  kind  of  haziness  enveloped  all  that  he  be- 
held. As  already  seen,  he  was  without  that  analytic 
power  which  is  essential  to  the  critic  in  his  interpre- 
tation of  authors.  He  must  be  able  to  dissect  and  to 
give  a  safe  and  full  diagnosis.  Moreover,  his  indepen- 
dence so  overreached  itself  as  to  make  it  difficult  for 
him  to  carry  out  his  theory  and  assume  the  stand- 
point of  the  author  whom  he  was  judging-.  He  was 
full  of  notions  peculiar  to  himself — originating  and 
developing  in  his  own  brain.  Everything  must  be 
viewed  through  them.  An  author  was  or  was  not 
successful  as  he  conformed  or  failed  to  conform  to 
these  whims  and  schemes.  Hence,  Goethe  was  his 
favorite  poet  and  Sir  Walter  Scott  was  not.  The  one 
was  just  visionary  enough  to  suit  him  and  the  other 
had  too  much  sober  common  sense.  Hence,  Coleridge 
was  a  favorite  prose  writer  and  Scott  was  not. 
Hence,  Sartor  Resartus  was  a  favorite  subject  and 
evoked  his  best  power. 

Hence,  it  is,  that  he  is  not  a  clear  critic  of  style. 
He  deals  with  men  and  things  and  events  rather  than 
with  the  exact  subject  matter  of  authors,  and  what- 
ever may  be  the  theme  he  is  soon  adrift  on  some  one 
of  his  specially  attractive  vagaries.  In  the  German 
authors,  as  a  class,  he  is  led  to  overlook  great  defects 
in  that  they  think  somewhat  as  he  thinks,  while  of 
Scott  he  can  say  nothing  better  than  that  he  has  "  a 
general  healthiness  of  mind." 

In  a  word,  Carlyle's  great  lack  as  a  critic  may  be 
expressed  in  one  word — want  of  Objectivity.  He  was 
purely  subjective  and,  hence,  dogmatic,  visionary, 
I'-ccentric  and  ruled  by  pi'ejudices.  At  this  point,  he 
falls  far  below  De  Qnincey  and  even  Macaulay,  while 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.— CARLYLE.        511 

the  later  school  of  English  criticism,  as  represented 
by  Arnold,  is  seen  to  excel  jus,t  where  he  failed. 

His  bitterness  towards  some  of  his  contemporaries 
as  evinced  in  his  published  Reminiscences,  is  enough 
to  confirm  the  statements  here  made.  His  references 
to  Charles  Lamb  will  no  sooner  be  condoned  by  the 
English-speaking  public  than  Voltaire's  contemptu- 
ous slurs  on  Shakespeare. 

In  the  History  of  His  Life  in  London,  lately  given  by 
Mr.  Froude,  he  speaks  of  the  noted  men  of  his  time 
in  the  most  contemptuous  terms. 

Of  Southey  he  writes,  "A  well-read,  honest,  limited 
man";  of  Wordsworth,  "Very  loquacious,  worth  little 
now,  intrinsically  and  extrinsically  small";  of  Sydney 
Smith,  "  Mass  of  fat  and  muscularity  with  no  humor 
or  even  wit,  seemingly  without  soul  ";  of  Macaulay, 
"  Of  essentially  irremediable  common-place  nature, 
all  gone  to  tongue";  of  Gladstone  as,  "Addle-pated 
nothingness,  one  of  the  contemptiblest  men,  incap- 
able of  seeing  any  fact  whatever";  and  even  of  Emer- 
son to  whom  he  owed  so  much  he  says,  "  Very  exotic. 
Good  of  him  I  could  get  none.  He  came  with  the 
rake  rather  than  the  shovel."  When  he  does  deign 
to  praise,  as  in  the  case  of  Webster  and  Dickens,  it  is 
so  faint  as  to  be  worthless.  This  is  more  than  bad 
criticism.  It  is  bad  blood  and  venom  and  but  one  of 
the  many  ways  he  had  of  exalting  Thomas  Carlyle  at 
the  expense  of  others.  Such  an  egoist  could  not  be  a 
critic. 

All  this  was  unfriendly  to  that  dispassionate 
mood  in  which  the  censor  should  sit  in  judgment 
upon  his  fellows.  Though  Carlyle  was  clear  headed 
enough  to  establish  a  just  theory  of  literary  criticism, 


512  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

he  was  not  impartial  enough  to  apply  it,  and  En- 
glish Letters  has  received  but  little  from  him  in  this 
direction. 

His  work  in  English  Prose  has  been  of  service  in 
other  directions.  As  a  body  of  prose  it  is  instinct 
with  intellectual  and  literary  life.  Original,  sugges- 
tive, cogent,  impassioned,  graphic  and  incisive,  it 
teaches  all  who  read  it  to  think  freely  and  think  pro- 
foundly; to  speak  their  thought  with  the  courage  of 
their  convictions  and  with  terse  compactness;  to  re- 
gard human  life  as  the  greatest  of  mysteries  and  pos- 
sibilities; to  exalt  ideas  above  things  and  circum- 
stances; and  to  address  themselves  to  their  ascer- 
tained mission  with  that  "  dreadful  earnestness  "  that 
is  born  out  of  the  deepest  experiences  and  promises 
the  grandest,  results. 

Whatever  Carlyle  is  or  is  not,  he  is  a  representative 
writer  of  English  Prose.  Though  as  a  standard  for 
imitation,  he  is  inferior  to  man}'  of  his  predecessors 
and  colleagues,  he  is,  still,  strictly  representative,  as 
much  so,  at  least,  as  any  one  of  the  twelve  authors 
whose  style  we  have  studied. 

In  the  language  of  Mr.  Hutton — "  No  literary  man 
in  the  nineteenth  century  is  likely  to  stand  out  more 
distinct,  to  the  centuries  which  will  follow."  He  has 
done  what  few  among  men  have  done.  He  had  more 
influence  upon  his  age  than  his  age  had  upon  him, 
and  for  this  alone  deserves  the  most  careful  study. 
His  very  faults  are  historic  and  add  to  his  wide- 
reaching  fame.  Despite  the  gravest  violations  of 
literary  propriety,  he  is  quoted  as  a  model  and  leader. 
He  took  his  own  way  despite  of  precedent,  and  what 
lie  leaves  is  his  own.     Outside  of  the  region  of  prose 


REPRESENTATIVE    WRITERS.  —  CARLYLE.        513 

fiction,  it  may  be  said  that  no  works  of  English  Prose 
are  better  known  at  this  moment  among  educated 
circles.  No  essays  are  read  with  keener  avidity  by 
young  and  old.  Despite  their  mysticism  and  their 
"  barbarous  diction,"  they  are  read  and  this  is  one 
of  the  best  of  tests. 

Of  the  prose  of  Carlyle  this  much  can  be  said — it 
has  such  merit  that  every  literary  student  must  be 
conversant  with  it. 

It  is  so  faulty,  that  when  the  stude'nt  reads  it,  it 
must  be  with  judgment,  caution,  dissent  and  not 
infrequent  protest.  A  few  such  writers  are  needed 
in  every  century  to  stimulate  and  emancipate,  and 
but  few,  lest  irregularity  take  the  place  of  literary 
law.  Carlyle  was  a  Scotchman.  English  Prose  will 
always  need  something  of  the  Scotch  element  in  it  to 
give  it  tone  and  point  and  literary  bluntness  and 
Christian  obstinacy. 

References  and  Authorities. 

Minto's  Prose  Manual.  Conway's  Carlyle.  Carlyle 
(Eng.  Men  of  Let.)  Lowell's — My  Study  Windows. 
Froude's  Carlyle.  Essays  by  Morley,  Martineau  and 
Bayne.     Norton's — Emerson  and  Carlyle. 


CONCLUSION. 

We  have  thus  briefly  surveyed  the  leading  periods, 
and  forms  and  some  of  the  leading  authors  of  our 
English  Prose  from  Elizabeth  to  Victoria. 

In  reviewing  this  historical  development  of  three 
centuries  of  English  Prose  from  Bacon  to  Carlyle, 
the  first  and  deepest  impression  is  that  of  Liierary 
Richness. 

We  have  noted  but  here  and  there  a  name  of 
prominence  among  scores  that  might  have  been  ad- 
duced, and  it  is  a  matter  of  mingled  pride  and  sur- 
prise to  fill  up  the  list  of  English  Prose  Writers  as 
illustrative  of  the  various  characteristic  forms  of 
prose. 

In  History  and  Biograpry,  there  are  such  historic 
names  as — Grote,  Green,  Raleigh,  Boswell,  Strickland, 
Hume,  Clarendon,  Gibbon,  Hallam,  Mill,  Buckle, 
Turner,  Alison,  Lingard,  Mahon,  Warton,  Craik,  Col- 
lier, Tytler,  Stanley,  Palgrave,  Knight,  Southey,  and 
Merivale. 

In  Descriptive  Prose  and  Prose  Fiction  are — 
Bnlwer,  Edge  worth,  Thackei'ay,  Richardson,  Bun- 
yan,  Fielding,  De,Foe,  Sterne,  Austen,  Porter,  Reade, 
Disraeli,  Kingsley,  Bronte,  Marryat,  and  Eliot. 


CONCLUSION.  515 

In  Oratorical  Prose  are  the  names  of — Barrow, 
Taylor,  Hall,  Fuller,  Bolingbroke,  South,  Chatham 
and  Chalmers. 

In  Didactic,  Critical  and  Philosophic  Prose,  are — 
Dryden,  Bentham,  Wordsworth,  Whateley,  Chilling- 
worth,  Shaftesbury,  Junius  (Francis),  Browne,  Cow- 
ley, Temple,  Adam  Smith,  Paley,  Blackstone,  Bentley, 
Warburton,  Boyle,  Locke,  Cudworth,  Butler,  Hobbes, 
Harrington,  Maurice,  Miller,  J.  S.  Mill,  and  Coleridge. 

In  Miscellaneous  Prose,  the  name  is  legion  and  in 
no  department  of  our  Letters  is  there  a  greater  dis- 
play of  solid  wealth — Gifford,  flazlitt,  S.  Smith,  Lan- 
dor,  Forster,  Brougham,  Jeffrey,  Drake,  Thomas  Ar- 
nold, Newman,  Chesterfield,  Collier,  Goldsmith,  Steele, 
Mackintosh,  Disraeli,  Arbuthnot,  North,  the  brothers 
Hare,  and  Pattison. 

We  have  here  an  approximate  list  of  authors  of 
English  Prose  from  the  time  of  Bacon,  exclusive  of 
those  noted  writers  still  living  and  at  work  on 
English  ground. 

It  is  perfectly  safe  to  say  that  there  is  nothing 
like  it  for  opulence  and  variety  in  any  European  or 
classical  literature,  while  it  would  be  presumptuous 
on  the  part  of  any  critic  to  draw  an  exact  boundary 
line  between  the  first  and  second  orders  of  English 
Prose.  There  are  many  writers  that  stand  on  the 
border  line  itself  and  seem  to  look  each  way. 

The  list  is  rich  in  any  point  of  view  from  which  it 
may  be  studied — intellectual,  literary  and  ethical.  To 
the  lovers  of  literary  art  as  verbally  expressed  it 
affords  a  large  and  inviting  field  of  personal  profit  in 
the  hours  of  mental  leisure. 


516  ENGLISH   PROSE. 

To  the  student  of  literature  as  an  historical  and 
philosophical  development  from  crude  beginnings  to 
advanced  maturity,  it  opens  the  widest  area  for  safe 
research,  analogy  and  induction. 

To  the  student  of  style,  in  its  various  laws,  pro- 
cesses, qualities  and  forms,  it  becomes  alike  the  all- 
sufficient  guide  and  stimulus,  while  to  intelligent 
thinkers  and  readers  at  large  it  presents  in  its  spa- 
cious contents,  at  once  the  evidence  of  past  literary 
power  and  the  promise  of  what  the  Prose  of  English 
may  yet  become. 

There  is  nothing  of  which  English-speaking  peoples 
should  more  justly  boast,  while  there  may  be  said  of 
our  prose  what  the  German  Grimm  was  pleased  to 
say  of  our  language — "  It  may  with  good  reason  call 
itself  universal  and  seems  chosen  like  the  people,  to 
rule  in  future  times  in  a  still  greater  degree.  In 
richness,  sound  reason  and  flexibility,  no  modern 
(prose)  can  be  compared  with  it." 

If  this  be  so,  every  educated  man  should  be  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  it  in  its  best  periods,  forms 
and  exponents.  It  is  to  the  reproach  and  shame  of 
multitudes  of  the  intelligent  and  even  of  the  lib- 
erally cultured  that  they  are  so  little  versed  in  its 
history,  processes  and  leading  names,  and  ignor- 
antly  resort  with  avidity  to  foreign  sources  for  that 
literary  discipline  that  lies  accessible  at  their  own 
doors  in  the  ample  resources  of  their  vernacular 
prose. 

Most  of  all  should  the  statesman,  the  jurist,  the 
journalist,  the  minister  of  the  truth  to  men  and  all 
those  who  in  any  way  by  pen  or  voice  seek  to  guide 
and  govern  their  fellows,  be  so  thoroughly  acquainted 


CONCLUSION.  517 

with  this  rich  department  of  our  prose  literature 
that  when  they  write  and  speak  they  may  do  it  in 
the  light  of  what  has  been  done  for  them  and  with  a 
determined  purpose  to  maintain  the  honor  of  the  past. 
Clear,  forcible  and  elegant  English  has  been  a  steady 
literary  growth  from  the  days  of  Elizabeth  to  those 
of  Victoria. 

It  has  never  been  written  more  ably  and  acceptably 
than  in  the  last  twenty-five  years.  While  English 
Poetryj  even  in  the  persons  of  its  best  exponents  is 
perceptibly  marking  a  decline  of  power  and  reveal- 
ing tendencies  in  the  line  of  verbal  mechanism  and 
sensuous  undertone  all  adrift  from  its  earlier  char- 
acter, English  Prose  is  advancing  with  the  advance 
of  modern  civilization  and  bids  fair  to  keep  abreast  of 
it  through  the  future.  It  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  great 
exponents  of  such  civilization.  In  all  the  primary 
forms  of  prose,  this  evidence  of  life  is  still  visible — in 
history  and  biography,  as  represented  by  Froudeand 
Freeman,  Masson,  Forster,  Morley,  Stubbs,  Rawlin- 
son,  Leckey,  and  others;  in  description  and  fiction, 
as  seen  in  Black,  Collins,  Macdonald.  Muloch  and 
others;  in  impassioned  prose  as  seen  in  the  best  public 
and  Parliamentary  addresses  of  Bright,  Gladstone  and 
others;  in  didactic  and  philosophic  prose  as  seen  in, 
Fronde,  Brooke,  Procter,  Symonds  and  Shairp;  in 
criticism  and  miscellany  as  seen  in,  Matthew  Arnold, 
Newman,  Mahaffy,  Leslie  Stephen,  Hughes,  Ruskin 
and  an  almost  limitless  list  of  worthy  writers  in  the 
leading  periodicals  of  the  day. 

If  in  this  wide  variety  and  wealth  of  prose  pro- 
duction, there  is  any  one  element  of  danger,  it  is  in 
the  rapid  increase  of  the  lighter  forms  of  prose   as 


518  ENGLISH  PROSE. 

found  in  fiction,  descriptive  sketching,  miscellaneous 
essays  and  journalism,  somewhat  at  the  possible  ex- 
pense of  the  more  intellectual  and  weighty  forms — 
the  historical  and  philosophic.  This  danger,  how- 
ever, is  more  apparent  than  real.  Even  in  the  lighter 
species  of  prose  (save  that  of  fiction)  work  of  a  more 
substantial  value  is  now  done  than  hitherto  was  the 
case,  while  the  great  departments  of  narrative  and 
didactic  prose  writing  are  developing  with  almost 
commensurate  rapidity. 

There  is  no  tendency  in  modern  English  more 
pronounced  and  more  hopeful  than  the  increasing 
tendency  to  the  best  forms  of  instructive  prose  as 
distinct  from  that  which  is  merely  entertaining  and 
transient. 

This  is  especially  true  in  that  grand  development  of 
historical  writing  now  going  on  before  us  in  England 
as,  also,  on  the  Continent  and  in  America. 

At  no  period  of  our  prose  has  there  been  a  larger 
number  of  able  historians  at  work,  or  a  more  read- 
able and  acceptable  body  of  historical  literature. 

Nor  is  this  work  confined  to  the  province  of  civil 
or  political  history,  but  ranges  through  all  the  forms 
of  narrative  writings — the  history  of  philosophy;  of 
literature;  of  art,  science,  religion  and  the  industries; 
of  medicine,  jurisprudence  and  Biblical  doctrine;  of 
society  and  the  church ;  of  education  and  of  journal- 
ism. Historical  methods  and  aims  were  never  so 
thoroughly  studied  as  now.  It  is  a  kind  of  golden 
era  of  narrative  prose  which  makes  it  one  of  special 
promise  for  prose  in  all  its  forms. 

Those  cardinal  principles  of  all  style  that  are  so 
richly   found  in   history — clearness,  simplicity,    cor- 


CONCLUSION.  519 

rectness,  definiteness,  delineative  skill  and  didactic 
aim — are  the  principles  that  are  needed  in  every 
national  literature  and  which  will  do  much  to  pre- 
serve it  pure  and  stable  in  the  face  of  lower  literary 
tendencies. 

Such  is  the  drift  of  Modern  English  Prose  on  its 
intellectual  side  and  such  is  its  literary  promise.  In 
the  rush  and  pressure  of  modern  civilization,  in  that 
poetic  decline  and  material  advance  which  are  so 
manifest,  there  may  be  some  loss  of  aesthetic  tone 
and  finish  in  our  prose.  This  can  scarcely  be 
avoided.  We  may  expect  less  and  less  of  Macaulay 
and  more  and  more  of  Burke  and  Carlyle.  There 
will  be  compensations  for  this  loss  of  artistic  grace  in 
greater  freedom,  force  and  practical  directness.  The 
prose  of  the  century  will  be  in  keeping  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  century,  vivacious,  pungent  and  informing, 
while  at  the  incoming  of  a  more  poetic  era,  it  may 
assume,  at  demand,  a  more  poetic  form  and  finish. 
As  B;i con  wrote  for  his  age,  so  did  Carlyle  for  his, 
and  however  the  ages  may  differ,  they  are  alike  in 
this  particular — that  in  each,  great  intellectual  and 
material  activity  prevails  and  authors  must  write  as 
men  of  the  world.  In  the  sixteenth  and  nineteenth 
centuries  alike,  English  prose  must  needs  be  cogent 
and  practical  rather  than  aesthetic.  The  History  of 
Literature,  as  all  history,  repeats  itself  and  Modern 
English  Prose  is  characteristically  Baconian.  Thus 
it  is  that  the  centuries  are  united. 

As  to  the  Ethical  Character  of  English  Prose,  little 
need  be  stated.  It  may  be  said  to  speak  for  itself. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  such  critics  as  Morley  and 
Principal  Shairp  to  call  the  special  attention  of  read- 


x- 


520  ENGLISH  PROSE, 

ers  to  this  salient  feature  of  our  prose.     It  is  so  salient 
as  to  be  everywhere  apparent. 

With  the  one  exception  of  Jonathan  Swift,  the 
authors  who  have  come  before  us  have  been  ethical 
throughout, — in  thought,  diction  and  general  style. 

Though  Hume  and  Gibbon,  Buckle  and  Hobbes 
are  ranked  among  skeptics,  their  pages  are  compar- 
atively pure  in  a. literary  point  of  view.  Even  in  the 
department  of  prose  fiction,  where  the  danger  is 
greater,  the  leading  English  prose  novelists,  with 
scarcely  an  exception,  have  been  those  whose  teach- 
ings are  morally  sound.  Such  authors  as  Smollett 
and  Aphia  Behn  are  excluded  from  high  place  in 
the  province  of  fiction,  not  only  on  intellectual,  but 
on   moral  grounds. 

In  this  respect  English  Prose  has  a  far  brighter 
record  than  English  Poetry.  There  are  no  such  eras 
of  moral  decline  and  looseness  as  are  found  in  the 
Dramatic  Poetry  of  the  Restoration  and  the  later 
times  of  Byron  and  Shelley.  The  atmosphere  is  more 
bracing  and  the  moral  effect  more  wholesome. 

There  is  no  body  of  prose  in  any  literature  that 
will  better  stand  the  moral  test.  The  ethical  basis 
that  wras  laid  in  our  letters  as  far  back  as  the  days 
of  First  and  Middle-English,  in  Alfred,  Aelfric  and 
Wyclif  is  still  the  basis  of  our  best  literature.  That 
great  religious  awakening  that  renovated  the  En- 
glish mind  of  the  sixteenth  century,  deepened  and 
broadened  this  moral  basis  so  that  it  can,  under  Prov- 
idence, never  be  essentially  disturbed. 

Those  erratic  tendencies,  now  at  work  in  the  line 
of  a  skeptical  philosophy  and  a  more  indifferent  view 
of  human  life,  will  not  be  able,  materially,  to  affect 


CONCLUSION.  521 

it,  The  best  English  Prose  extant  is  the  prose  of  the 
English  Bible  as  given  in  the  versions  of  Wyclif, 
Tyndale,  and  King  James.  Right  at  the  centre  of  our 
developing  prose  literature  stands  the  Word  of  God 
in  purest  English  form  to  guard  and  stimulate  that 
development.  English  Prose  is  more  than  ethical. 
It  is  in  its  origin,  history  and  promised  unfoldinga 
both  Protestant  and  Biblical  and  quite  apart  from 
its  high  intellectual  and  literary  character  takes  its 
place  as  one  of  the  great  moral  agencies  of  modern 
times. 


INDEX. 


TOPICAL  AND  BIOGBAPHICAL. 


A 

Abbott,  E.  A 54 

Addison,  Joseph 288 

Biographical  Sketch  . .  288 
Preference  for  Prose . .  290 

Features  of  Style 291 

Literary  Grace 291 

Plainness 294 

Wit  and  Humor 298 

Popularity 302 

Ethical  Quality   304 

His  Critical  Ability. ...  305 

Prose  Works 288 

His  Poetry 290 

Advancement  of  Learning,  Ba- 
con's   215 

Aelfric  Bata 18 

Aclfric's  Prose 18 

Ainger,  Alfred 374,  375 

Alcuin 18 

Alfred's  Prose 15,  17 

Ancren  Riwlo 28 

Anglo-Latin 211 

Anglo-Norman  Writers 27 

Annals 128 

Apothegms,  Bacon's 217 

Aquinas,  Thomas 241 

Arabian  Influence 41 

Arnold,  Matthew.  .194,  385, 

4-21, 427 

Ascham,  Roger 38 

Augustan  Prose 80,  100 

Augustine,  Saint 241,  408 

Autobiography 130 


B 

Bacon,  Roger 27 

Bacon,  Francis 211 

Biographical  Sketch  . .  211 

Use  of  Latin ...      211 

Prose  Works  in  English  214 

Merits  of  Style 217 

Concentration 217 

Analytical  Clearness . .   219 

Incisiveness 219 

Strength 222 

Imagination 224 

Versatility 226 

Defects  of  Style 227 

Bancroft,  George 133 

Bede 17,  21,  27 

Bentley,  Richard 77 

Berkeley,  Bishop 274 

Berners,  Lord 37 

Biography 129 

Remarks  on 130 

Modern  Prominence  of  131 
Biography  and  Author- 
ship     132 

Bishop's  Bible 53 

Blackstone,  Sir  William  . . .   113 

Boethius 16 

Boswell,  James 315,  317 

Brewer,  Prof. ...   293 

Bronte,  Charlotte 467 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas. .  312,  408 

Brydges,  Sir  Egerton 262 

Buckle,  H.   Thomas 63 

Bulwer  Lytton 151,  152 


524 


INDEX. 


Burke,  Edmund 334 

Biographical  Sketch  . .  33-1 

Views  as  to  Bank 334 

Prose  Writings 338 

Conditions  of  Style 339 

Characteristics  of  Style  342 

Burton,  Bobert 263 

C 

Capitularies,  The 16 

Carlyle,  Thomas  479 

Biographical  Sketch  . .  479 
Writings,  Prose . .  479,  480 

Merits  of  Style 480 

Defects  of  Style 495 

Character  as  a  Critic . .  505 
Examples  of  Prose  482, 

484 507 

Caxton,  William    ...  29,  30,  34 

Chalmers,  Thomas 170 

Chaucer 233 

Chronicle,  The 16 

Chronicles 128 

Coleridge,  S.  T. . .   108,  366,  504 

Cowley,  A 36,  74,  90 

Craik,  Prof 347 

•  Cud  worth,  Ralph 75 

D 

Do  Foe,  Daniel  . . .  .93,  103,  182 

De  Quincey,  Thomas 417 

Biographical  Sketch  ..417 
Classes  of  Essays  ....  418 
Merits  of  Style...  419-435 
Defects  of  Style  . .  437-445 

Dickens,  Charles 443 

Biographical  Sketch  . .  443 

Prose  Works 446 

Merits  of  Style 449 

Defects  of  Style 467 

Dictionary,  Euglish 331 

Disraeli,  Isaac.  39,  87,  184,  291 
Donne,  Bishop 56 


Drake,  Nathan   188 

Drayton,  Michael 140 

Dryden,  John.  . .  72,  78,  87,  92 
Dunlop    151 

E 

Edwards,  Jonathan 170 

Eliot,  George.  . . .  154,  377,  471 

Elizabeth,  Queen .    47,  52 

Elyot,  Sir  Thomas 37 

Emerson,  B.  W 481,  502 

Erskine,  Thomas .....   167 

Essays  and  Reviews 192 

Essays    on    the    Sublime, 

Burke's 337,  349 

Euphuism 55,  299 

F 

Fabyan,  Robert 37 

Field,  James  T.. 130 

First-English  Prose .. .   15,  520 

Prominent  Centres  ...  15 

Prominent  Writers. ...  15 

G 

German  Influence 107 

Gibbon,  Edward 63,  104 

Goethe 108,  153,  484,  486 

Gregory's  Pastoral  Care  ....  17 

Green,  John  Richard 141 

Guizot 174 

H 

Hallam,  H 50,  67,  84,  133 

Hall,  Edward.    37 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel  ....   160 

Hazlitt,  W 49 

Historical  Transitions 67 

History 133 

Relations  of 139 

Reading  of 140 

Elements  of  Interest. .   141 
Hobbes,   Thomas 78 


INDEX. 


525 


Hooker,  Eichard 231 

Biography 231 

Authorship 231 

Merits  of  Style 234 

Faults 239 

Examples  of  Prose.  243,  244 

Howells,  W.  D 197 

Hugo,  Victor 160,  490 

Hume,  David 114,  133 


Italian  Influence  ...  57,  73,  107 


James,  G.  P.  E 152 

Johnson,  Samuel 310 

Biography 310 

Writings 310 

Features  of  Style 311 

Journalism    197 

Junius,  Letters  oj  361 

K 

Kant,  Immanuel 114 

Kingsley,  Charles. . . .  152,  462 
Knox,  John 258 


Lamb,  Charles 363 

Biography 363 

Prose  Works 363 

Defects  of  Style 364 

Merits  of  Style 369 

Critical  Ability    380 

Lanier,  Sidney 154,  158 

Latimer,  Hugh  36 

Learning,  Advancement  of,  Ba- 
con's    215 

Leland,  John 37 

Letters 194 

Lewes,  G.  H 456 

Lord,  John 130 

Luther,  Martin 259 


M 

Macaulay,  Lord 387 

Biographical  Sketch  . .  387 

Prose  Works 387 

Popular  Estimate  of  his 

Style     388 

Analysis  of  his  Style  . .   390 

Defects  of  Prose 408 

March's  Estimate  of  his 

Diction 392 

Examples 402,  403 

His  Theory  of  Style ....  408 

Malory,  Thomas 35 

Maudeville's  Prose 32 

Mass'ey,  Gerald 458 

Masson,  David  .  .  .101.  102,  130 

McMaster,  John  Bach 141 

Memories 128,  129 

Middle-English  Prose.. 26,  520 

Miller,  Hugh    197 

Milton,  John 243 

Biographical  Sketch   . .   246 
Periods    of   his    Writ- 
ings .' 247 

Prose    Works  in  Eng- 
lish    249 

His  Pamphlets  249 

Examples  of  his  Prose 

Style 261,  262 

Minto,  William. 36, 101,  441,  484 

Moir,  David  M 45 

More,  Thomas 36 

Morley,  Henry 131,  350 

Morris,  Eichard  131 

Motley,  J.  L 136 

N 

New  Atlantis,  Bacon's 219 

Norman  Conquest 26 

Norman-French. 27 

Norton,    Prof. 481 

Novel,  Classes  of 151 

Novum  Organum,  Eicon's  .  219 


526 


INDEX. 


Opium  Eater,  De  Quincey's  430 

Orosins : 16 

Oxford  University, 421 


Paston  Letters 35 

Pattison,  Mark 252,  258 

Pecock,  Eeginald. . .    34 

Periods,  Prose 43 

Classification  of 43 

General   Inferences  as 

to 116-121 

Philological  English  .... 95,  96 

Plegimund    16 

Poetical  Prose 146 

Poetry, 194 

Polity,  Hooker's 231  238 

Prescott,  W.  H 136,  379 

Prose  Fiction 148 

Protestant,  English 63 

E, 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter  .  .  .228,  490 
Rambler,  Johnson's. .  .327,  329 

Rawley 216,  223 

Revival  of  Classics 56 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua    ....  329 

Richelieu 71 

Richness  of  English  Prose.  514 
In  History  and  Biogra- 
phy     514 

In  Descriptive  and  Fic- 
tion      514 

In  Oratorical  Literature  515 

In  Criticism 515 

In  Miscellany 515 

Rufus,  VTilliam 344 

Ruskin,  John 147,  244 

S 

Saintsbury 89,  168 

83 


Savage;  Richard 


Schiller 108 

Schlegel,  A.  W 176 

Scott,  Sir  Walter 271 

Shakespeare,    107,  43,  227, 

275 422 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh. . . .  228,  490 

Spedding 215 

Spencer,  Herbert 126 

Spenser,  Edmund 233 

Stephen,  Leslie 285 

Sterne,  Lawrence 156 

Swift,  Jonathan     . . . .      ...  265 

His  Prose  Works  ....  265 

Faults  of  Style 269 

Features  of  Merit... ..  272 

Sydney,  Sir  Philip 55,  156 

T 

Taine 63,  297,  312 

Talfourd,  T.  N 369 

Ten  Brink    I    45 

Thackeray,  W.   M 93,  152 

Tories 68,     86 

Travels  and  Tales 195 

Trench,  Archbishop 253 

Trevisa,  John 33 

Tyler,  Prof 59 

Tyndale,  William 37 


Victorian  Prose 514 

Voltaire 327,  507 

W 

Wallenstein 52 

Walton  Isaac 64,  377,  385 

Ward,  A.  W 466 

Warner,  CD 131 

Whigs 86,  535 

Whipple,  Edwin  ..192,  235  239 

Wyclif,  John 33 

William  of  Orange 76 

William  Rufus 344 


INDEX.  527 

William  Tyndale 37  Writers,  Prose.— Continued. 

Wilson's    Art    of    Dis-  Representative  Names .   210 

course 51     Wycherley,  William 74 

Wisdom  of  the  Ancients,  Ba- 
con's   225  Y 

Wordsworth,  William  .296,  303    Yarrow 15 

Writers,  Prose 204    Young,  Edward 85,     91 

Classification  of 204 

Explanatory  State-  Z 

ments 207    Zola,  Emile 157 


IMPORTANT    EDUCATIONAL    WORK. 

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and  under  the  arrangement  most  to  be  desired — every  lover  of  literature 
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could  in  any  way  contribute  to  make  this  edition  a  satisfactory  one,  and 
it  is  that  in  an  eminent  degree." — New  York  Commercial. 

New  York  Christian  Union  — "  This  edition  of  Poe's  Works  is  not 
only  the  most  perfect  one  that  has  yet  been  issued,  but  it  is  so  good  that 
it  might  well  serve  as  the  permanent  form  in  which  Poe's  Works  should 
be  given  to  his  countrymen." 


"POE'S  writings  are  as  clear  and  sharp  and  sustained  as  the  finest 
sculpture.  They  combine  HAWTHORNE  and  DE  FOE,  the  lawyer 
and  the  mystic  ;  the  wild  fantasies  of  the  opium-eater,  and  the  calm, 
penetrative  power  of  THACKERAY.  They,  therefore,  fascinate  alike 
the  Dreamer  and  the  Coolest  Man  of  Affairs." 


Sent  on  receipt  of  price,  charges  prepaid,  by 

A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son,  714  Broadway,  New  York. 


CHOICE    STANDARD    WORKS, 

t  ..    —    ...  ..  .  ■  ■-      ■  -^t 

A  NEW  EDITION  OF 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CRUSADES. 

A~T5.   GOO-127CX 
IN  EIGHT  PARTS,  WITH  AN  INDEX  OF  47  FACES. 

By  JOSEPH  FRANCOIS   MICHA'JD. 

And  a  Preface  and  Supplementary  Chapter  by  Hamilton  W.  Mabia. 
3    vols.,    crown    8vo,    Cloth.       $3.75. 

(Bound  in  Half  Calf  extra,  $3  per  vol.) 
"  The  ability,  diligence  and  faithfulness  with  which  MlCHAUD 
has  executed  his  great  task  are  undisputed,  and  it  is  to  his  well-filled 
volumes  that  all  must  resort  for  copious  and  authentic  facts  and  luminour 
views  respecting  this  most  romantic  and  wonderful  period  in  the  annals 
of  the  world." 

This  work  has  long  been  out  of  print,  and  its  republication  is  oppor* 
tune.  It  narrates  very  fully  and  in  a  picturesque  and  interesting  manner, 
the  most  striking  episode  in  European  history,  and  will  add  an  invalu- 
able work  to  the  historical  literature  which  has  recently  been  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  reading  public  in  editions  combining  sound  scholarship 
and  reasonable  prices.  Of  the  first  excellence  as  an  authority,  full  of 
romantic  incident,  graphic  in  style,  this  new  edition  of  that  which  is  by 
universal  consent 

THE  STANDARD  HISTORY  OF  THE  CRUSADES, 

will  have  equal  value  for  the  student  and  general  reader. 


RIVERSIDE    EDITION   OF 

MACAULAY'S    ESSAYS, 

Critical,   Historical  and    Miscellaneous.     With  a  Biographical  and 

Critical  Introduction  from  the  well-known  pen   of  Mr.  E.   P. 

Whipple.     3   vols.,  crown   8vo,  Cloth,  3,000   pages. 

With  a  fine  Portrait  on  Steel.     Price,  $3-75. 

(Bound  in  Half  Calf  extra,  $3  per  vol.) 
In  this  edition  the  essays  have  been  arranged  in  chronological  order, 
so  that  their  perusal  affords,  so  to  speak,  a  complete  biographical  portrait- 
ure of  the  brilliant  author's  mind.   It  contains  the  pure  text  of  the  author 
and  the  exact  punctuation,  orthography,  etc.,  of  the  English  editions. 

A  very  full  index  (55  pages)  has  been  specially  prepared  for  this 
edition.  In  this  respect  it  is  superior  to  the  English  editions,  and  wholly 
uilike  any  other  American  edition. 

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CHOICE    STANDARD   WORKS. 


NEW  AND  REVISED  EDITION 

OF 

HALLAM'S  COMPLETE  WORKS, 

With  New   Table  of  Contents  and  Indexes. 

IN  SIX  VOLS.,  CROWN,  8VO,  CLOTH. 

PRICE,  $7.50  PER  SET.    (Reduced  from  $17.50 J 

(Bound  in  Hal/  Calf  extra,  $3  i'cr  i>ol.) 


This  Unabridged  Edition  of  Hallam's  Works  Comprises 

The  Constitutional  History  of  England,  2  Vols. 
The  Middle  Ages,  The  Slats  of  Europe  During  the  liMls  Ages,  2  Vols. 
Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe,    2  Vols, 

Reprinted  from  the  Last  London  Edition,  Revised 
and  Corrected  by  the  Author. 


"Macaulay,  in  his  famous  estimate  of  Hallam,  says :  "  Mr.  Hallam 
is,  on  the  whole,  far  better  qualified  than  any  other  writer  of  our  time 
for  the  office  which  he  has  undertaken.  He  has  great  industry  and  great 
acuteness.  His  knowledge  is  extensive,  various,  and  profound.  His  mind 
is  equally  distinguished  by  the  amplitude  of  its  grasp,  and  by  the  delicacy 
of  its  tact.  His  speculations  have  none  of  that  vagueness  which  is  the 
common  fault  of  political  philosophy.  On  tht  contrary,  they  are 
strikingly  practical,  and  teach  us  not  only  the  general  rule,  but  the  mode 
of  applying  it  to  solve  particular  cases.  .  .  .  Mr.  Hallam's 
work  is  eminently  judicial.  Its  whole  spirit  is  that  of  the  Bench,  not 
that  of  the  Bar.  He  sums  up  with  a  calm,  steady  impartiality,  turning 
neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  glossing  over  nothing,  exaggerating 
nothing,  while  the  advocates  on  both  sides  are  alternately  biting  their  lips 
to  hear  their  conflicting  misstatements  and  sophism  exposed.'' 


This  "STANDARD  EDITION"  of  HALLAM'S  WORKS, 
in  6  Vols.,  AVERAGES  NEARLY  800  PAGES  IN  EACH 
VOL.,  and  is  sold  at  $7.50  PER  SET  (formerly  published 
in   10  Vols,  at  $17.50.) 

Sent  on  receipt  of  price,  charges  prepaid,  by 
A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    &   SON,    714   Broadway,  New  York. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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